Report: Hornets' P.J. Hairston charged with assault and battery after punching incident

Charlotte Hornets guard P.J. Hairston's NBA career is not off to a good start.

News broke Sunday that Hairston got involved in a physical altercation with a high school student while playing pickup basketball at a local Y.M.C.A. Accounts vary on the incident, but according to the student, Hairston initiated the incident (via ESPN):

We were playing open gym and I was running up the court and he hit me in the forehead with his fist. I walked up to him and asked him what happened and then he hit me again in the neck.

Hairston's agent conceded that his client did throw a punch, but claims that the student initiated the confrontation, citing that, "the pickup game got heated, the kid swung at P.J. and P.J. swung back."

As relayed by Derek Rowles of ABC 11 Raleigh-Durham, Hairston has reportedly been officially charged with assault and battery, but will not be arrested.