Heat swingman Haywood Highsmith has been cited for careless driving after being involved in a car accident that left a man hospitalized, reports Angie DiMichele of The Sun Sentinel. The citation is not considered criminal, but Highsmith was described in a police report as driving in a “careless or negligent manner,” per DiMichele.
Highsmith’s agent Jerry Dianis issued a statement describing the circumstances of the accident.
“At approximately 11:20 pm, Haywood struck a pedestrian pushing an unlit disabled car down the middle of a dark road,” Dianis said. “Haywood immediately rushed to help the person pushing the car who had been injured. Haywood assisted a bystander who applied a tourniquet to the injury and stayed on the scene talking to the injured man offering words of comfort until an ambulance took him to the hospital.
“Mr. Highsmith had not consumed alcohol or drugs and was not speeding. This was an unfortunate accident. We have been notified that the person sustained significant injuries but is in stable condition. Haywood and his family are praying for him. Haywood is of course shaken by this and appreciates the support and prayers he has received from the Miami Heat and fans.”
Highsmith returned to Heat practice on Friday after missing Wednesday’s game in the wake of the incident.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Terry Rozier was acquired by the Heat on January 23, but due to the nature of the team’s in-season schedule, he didn’t take part in a full practice with his new club until Friday, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. “It feels good just to get up and down with these guys and put a lot more things in that we can get better at in the game,” Rozier said after the session.
- Josh Robbins of The Athletic takes a look at why the Wizards‘ trade deadline was quieter than anticipated, with guards Tyus Jones and Delon Wright among the trade candidates who stayed put. Teams were only willing to offer second-round picks for Jones, Robbins reports, so Washington decided to hang onto him and will strongly consider re-signing him in free agency this summer. Robbins adds that the offers for Wright were “underwhelming” and would’ve required the Wizards to take on salary beyond this season.
- Franz Wagner has no problem with the Magic opting to stand pat at the trade deadline, telling Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link) that he views it as a sign of trust from the front office.
- The Hawks will have to make a decision soon on guard Trent Forrest, tweets Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks. As Rowland explains, despite only appearing in 19 games so far, Forrest has been active for 49 — players on two-way contracts are limited to a maximum of 50. Atlanta would have to promote Forrest to its standard roster, which is currently full, to allow him to exceed that limit.
At night a disabled vehicle in the middle of the road with no lights on is a accident waiting to happen. i wonder why they said Highsmith was driving careless?
As I have been told in a past circumstance, it’s just what they have to call it b/c there isn’t any other distinction. It can be disputed, and then can potentially be dropped, if it’s deemed there wasn’t really anything that could have been done differently. It doesn’t actually mean the person was “careless” or they did anything malicious. It’s just what they call it. He could have been going 14 mph, and they would still call it that initially
I don’t know why Orlando Magic didn’t made any trade yesterday, now they are in risk to lose players like Chuma Okeke, Gary Harris, Markelle Fultz, Goga Bitadze and Jonathan Isaac for nothing. They should have trade at least Chuma Okeke and Gary Harris for something like a few second round picks or young players…. anything is better than nothing.
I suspect they are keeping their cap space open, which will be significant this off season. You can’t really trade players for draft picks without taking on matching salaries.