In the era of guys like Pacman Jones and Terrell Owens, big name athletes often get the short end of the stick. While some of them are arrogant and self-obsessed individuals, a guy like Richard Jefferson is not one of them.

Awaiting a June 18 court date where he is alleged to have beaten a drunken fan at a Minneapolis hotel, Jefferson is one of the last people in the NBA, who I’d ever expect to get himself in a situation like this. Nonetheless, he now finds himself having to tell his side of the story in an effort to protect himself.

“You know, it is unfortunate,” Jefferson told the Associated Press. “I’ve never been involved in an incident in my life. I don’t even think I’ve ever been thrown out of a basketball game. But some drunk individual wants to come up and, you know, then, of course, when they start telling their side of the story we’re the big bad athletes that think they can get away with everything and then they’re some innocent individual that has never made a mistake in their life.”

The incident, which occurred in late January, is alleged to have been a byproduct of an altercation between Jefferson and someone who asked him to leave. What then happens here is kind of fuzzy. The victim alleges that Jefferson choked him, while Jefferson says that no punches where thrown and the person doesn’t have a scratch on him. I personally don’t know if Jefferson would pull a Latrell Sprewell and treat this guy like PJ Carlesimo, but he never exactly said there was no choking involved.

For instance:

“They were saying there was choking. It was more of a getting your space,” he told the AP. “This individual doesn’t have a scratch on him. There was no mark. There was no blood. There was no anything.”

On another note:

Kiki Vandeweghe was recently promoted to the General Manager position. Well, after Ed Stefanski boogied over to Philly midway through the season, you knew a replacement was in the wings for a while.

From what Rod Thorn had to say about the appointment, the team seems pretty happy with the choice:

“We are very pleased that Kiki will continue his relationship with the Nets’ organization,” Thorn told the AP. “When Kiki joined us in December, I felt that his experience as both an All-Star player and front office executive would be an invaluable asset to both myself and the franchise, and his work in the ensuing months has reinforced that belief.”