Knicks" Cleanthony Early addresses fans after shooting

New York Knicks forwardCleanthonyEarly took toInstagramon Thursday to address fans in the wake of being shot at a strip club in Queens, N.Y. on Wednesday.

Everything I Go Through Grows Me & a simple celebration of a friends birthday easily turned into a day that will change my life forever but for the Better, Early said in the post.

Early left a strip club in Queens, N.Y. around 4:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, when he was confronted by a group of people wearing ski masks who robbed him of his personal belongings and shot him once in the right knee.

TheNew York Daily Newsreportedthat Early surrendered his belongings, including cash and gold chains, before being shot. The 24-year-old was taken to a local hospital following the attack and was in stable condition.

Everything I Go Through Grows Me & a simple celebration of a friends birthday easily turned into a day that will change my life forever but for the Better. Continue to count your blessings regardless, I know I will, because I got shot but ironically I dodge a bullet. It could of been way worse and I"m thankful and grateful it wasn"t. This is a lesson learn for me and to you all as well, be safe out there, theirs people out here that want to hurt you just to hurt you, it"s the sad truth about life but don"t let them catch you slipping, & don"t let them take your Joy! We / I could think about what I could of/should of/ or what you would of done differently to prevent the situation from happening but truth be told is it is what it is, I"m not perfect, but I"m alive,learning & unlearning and G*d got me so I"m going to be alright! There was No major damage done Thank G*d, but this is one h**l of an experience to recovery from. So with that beginning said Thank you all for your Thoughts and Prayers, I appreciate you all! Shout out to you beautiful souls for caring and sending all the love, it overpowers all hate everyday. G*d works in Mysterious ways but this is a Minor set back for a Major come back! #HungrierAndHumbler #ChangeIsTheOnlyConstant #ChangeForTheBetter #ImGood #GodSpeedRecovery

A photo posted by Cleanthony Early(@cleanthonyearly11_) on Dec 31, 2015 at 9:21am PST

Continue to count your blessings regardless, I know I will, because I got shot but ironically I dodge[d] a bullet, Early added. It could of been way worse and Im thankful and grateful it wasnt.

Yahoos ShamsCharaniareportsan MRI revealed no structural damage, as the bullet went straight through, and that Early will not need surgery on his knee.According toCharania, Earlys expected timetable for recovery is six to 12 weeks.

Early was drafted by the Knicks in 2014, and has played in 10 games in his second season with the team, averaging 0.7 points and 3.4 minutes per game. He played in 39 games last season after missing two months to recover from arthroscopic surgery in his right knee.

Source: http://www.si.com/nba/2015/12/31/new-york-knicks-cleanthony-early-shooting-instagram

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Knicks player Cleanthony Early shot in leg outside club

NEW YORK --

New York Knicks player Cleanthony Early was shot in the leg as he left a strip club Wednesday by masked robbers who demanded his "gold," law enforcement officials said.

Early left CityScapes in Queens with his girlfriend at about 4:30 a.m. in an Uber cab when his vehicle was surrounded by at least two other cars and as many as six men got out, the two officials said. Early handed over two gold chains before he was shot in the right kneecap, the officials said. The men drove off. The Uber driver and girlfriend were uninjured, and the driver was robbed only of his identification. Early, 24, was hospitalized in stable condition.

The two law enforcement officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the victim"s name.

The team said in a brief statement that it was aware of an incident involving Early and "relieved that he is not in a life-threatening situation."

Police were searching for suspects and trying to determine if it was a carefully planned attack or a spur-of-the-moment hit.

The theft comes about 10 days after Knicks forward Derrick Williams was robbed of $617,000 in jewelry from his home. He had taken home two women from a Manhattan club. Police are still looking for suspects.

Williams has declined to comment on the theft, but the case raised questions about whether NBA players should have a curfew like other professional sports. In April, Indiana Pacers forward Chris Copeland, his girlfriend and another woman were stabbed following a late-night argument on the street near a Manhattan nightclub.

Knicks coach Derek Fisher was asked about the policy at a news conference after Williams was robbed.

"I don"t really have to get into our policies of what you can and can"t do," he told reporters last week. "We don"t have a curfew like in the NFL or other sports do on certain nights. It"s an unfortunate incident."

The 6-foot-8 Early was selected by New York in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft following his senior season at Wichita State. The Bronx native has seen action in 10 of the Knicks" 33 games this season and is averaging 0.7 points per game. He played for less than a minute during the Knicks" 108-96 win over Detroit on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Early missed two months of the 2014-15 season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, the same one injured in Wednesday"s shooting.

In a 2014 story in the Daily News of New York on Early during his amateur days that brought him to a prep school, community college and Wichita, where he won 30 or more games each year, he said he was "born on the bottom."

"I wasn"t bad, just mischievous, lacked guidance. I had to overcome those adversities, understand the world is a certain type of way," he said. "I"m not gonna cry about it or dwell. I have an opportunity to improve by rational decisions."

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Source: http://6abc.com/sports/knicks-player-cleanthony-early-shot-in-leg-outside-club/1140835/

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