| | NEW YORK -- Anthony Mason Anthony Mason of the Charlotte Hornets was
arrested on assault charges early Saturday after a fight outside a
bar in Harlem.
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| Mason |
Mason was arraigned Saturday night on a misdemeanor assault
charge, posted $1,000 bond and headed for New Jersey, where the
Hornets were playing the New Jersey Nets. He wasn't in the building
at the start of the game and Dale Ellis took his spot in the
starting lineup.
Mason arrived late in the first quarter and checked into the
game with 6:24 to play in the second quarter.
Mason is due back in court March 13.
The fight broke out at about 4:30 a.m. ET outside Perks Bar, police said.
Mason, a former New York Knicks player, and four other men were
involved in the fight against three others, officer Chris
Cottingham said.
After the game, Mason would not discuss the incident.
"I didn't do anything I wouldn't do for anyone," Mason said.
"I'm not going to run and hide. I don't want to become an
anti-social hermit. I didn't do anything wrong except be there. It
wasn't a trouble spot. It's a restaurant I've been going to for
years."
Mason said he believes he fame has made him a target.
"I seem to have a bull's-eye on back," he said.
Mason then apologized to his family and the Charlotte community.
The others with Mason also were charged with third-degree
assault.
The three men allegedly assaulted by Mason's group were hospitalized for minor injuries. Mason wasn't injured in the fight, Cottingham said.
Police didn't say what sparked the fight.
Hornets coach Paul Silas said before the game that he hadn't spoken with Mason and didn't know the details surrounding the incident.
"From all indications, I didn't think anything like this would
happen," Silas said. "He was kind of a model citizen of late and
had been playing well, lost a ton of weight and said he wasn't
drinking anymore, so you have to take him at his word."
Silas was disappointed Mason was out so late, saying he should
know better.
However, he said he wanted to talk to Mason before saying more.
"I'll have to find out what happened," Silas said. "I'll
either let it go or he'll feel my rage, one of the two."
Nets forward Kendall Gill, a former Hornets player, was
disappointed in this latest setback for Mason, a former New York
City player who has gotten into trouble here before.
"You can't feel sorry for the guy anymore," he said. "If
trouble keeps following him, maybe trouble isn't following him.
Maybe he is looking for it."
In June 1998, Mason pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor
child endangerment as prosecutors dropped more serious statutory
rape and sex abuse charges against him.
Mason and a friend were accused in February of having consensual
sex with two underage girls, 14 and 15, at a house in the Laurelton
section of Queens.
Mason was ordered to serve 200 hours of community service with
the homeless at the Progressive Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.
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