NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels rejects the notion that he pretended to spray gunfire toward former teammates after hitting a 3-pointer in front of New Orleans' bench during a 126-111 victory over the Pelicans on Sunday night.
“I was just telling them all that it was worth 3 points," Daniels said, noting that when he extended his right arm toward the Pelicans' bench area, his thumb and two other fingers were extended, representing 3 points.
When told his gesture also appeared to resemble a gun, Daniels said, “It might have looked like it, but I was just telling them it was worth 3 points. You know, pointing at them all, that’s all it was. I was making sure they all knew how many points it was worth."
The NBA has handed down some high-profile fines for gun gestures in the past decade, including $35,000 to Josh Jackson in 2017 and $25,000 to Gerald Green in 2015.
Meanwhile, Ja Morant was suspended 25 games in 2023 for waving an actual gun during a social media video.
Some on the Pelicans' bench appeared to ask officials to assess Daniels a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“I didn’t get one. So, the ref was right," said Daniels, an Australian whom the Pelicans made the eighth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. “I was just out there having fun. I was hoping to hit a 3 in that corner so I could let the bench know about it. It was a game I had circled on my calendar.”
Daniels and Hawks forward Larry Nance Jr. were traded last offseason from New Orleans to Atlanta as part of a deal that brought point guard Dejounte Murray to the Pelicans. Murray did not play on Sunday night, having been sidelined four to six weeks by a broken hand during New Orleans' first game of the regular season.
Nance laughed when asked if he thought the Pelicans who called for Daniels to be assessed a technical foul were just kidding around, too.
“You know what? No comment," Nance said. "I’m going to steer clear of that one.”
Nance, like Daniels, had some back and forth with the Pelicans bench, staring them down after a third-quarter dunk and then blowing them a kiss after a corner 3, also in front of New Orleans' bench.
Nance said that as he went into his shooting motion from behind the 3-point arc, Pelicans players were yelling, “Hell, no!”
“One, we’re all competitors. And, two, we’re friends," Nance said. "You’re able to say some things to each other just because we know it’s all love.
“Everybody in that locker room I have nothing but love and admiration for," Nance added. "Tonight was a lot of fun. I’m glad we won.”
Daniels finished with 16 points in what was also his return from a two-game absence because of a right hip strain that he said was no longer bothering him.
“Even if I wasn’t 100%, I was going to make sure I’d be back for this game,” Daniels said, noting that it was a tough moment for him when he first learned New Orleans was trading him.
“It was unexpected. I came into the league here and this was home for me," Daniels said. "They drafted me. They believed in me. Everyone was great to me. But this is a business; these things happen. So, you’ve got to move on from it. I’m happy to be in Atlanta. I’m enjoying my opportunity there.”
Nance scored 14 points during Sunday's game, which got chippy at times and included a flagrant foul against Hawks guard Garrison Matthews for what looked like a hard forearm to mid-section of Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado.
“I don’t know what type of play was that," said Alvarado, who was restrained by teammates as he advanced toward Matthews, yelling.
"I just wanted to ask him what was going on with that,” Alvarado said. “It wasn’t really like being aggressive. It felt like it was a cheap shot. I don’t know why he did it.”
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Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) goes for an open dunk against New Orleans Pelicans guard Jordan Hawkins, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The highly decorated U.S. Army soldier inside the Tesla Cybertruck that burst into flames outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel shot himself in the head before the explosion and likely planned to cause more damage but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force from the rudimentary explosive, officials said Thursday.
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference that a handgun was found at the feet of the man in the driver's seat, who officials believe is Matthew Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado. The shot appeared to be self-inflicted, officials said.
Damage from the blast was mostly limited to the interior of the truck. The explosion “vented out and up” and didn’t hit the Trump hotel doors just a few feet away, the sheriff said.
“The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” said Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge for the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Among other charred items found inside the truck were a second firearm, a number of fireworks, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smartwatch, McMahill said. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.
The remains were burned beyond recognition and investigators have not definitively identified them as Livelsberger, but the IDs and tattoos on the body “give a strong indication that it’s him,” the sheriff said.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
He was awarded a total of five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.
McMahill said Livelsberger rented the Tesla electric vehicle in Denver on Saturday and the sheriff displayed a map showing that it was charged in the Colorado town of Monument near Colorado Springs on Monday. On New Year’s Eve, it was charged in Trinidad, Colorado, and three towns in New Mexico along the Interstate 40 corridor.
Then on Wednesday, the day of the explosion, it was charged in three Arizona towns before video showed it on the Las Vegas Strip about 7:30 a.m.
McMahill said investigators obtained charging station photos showing Livelsberger “was the individual that was driving this vehicle” and was alone.
“We’re not aware of any other subjects involved in this particular case,” the sheriff said.
Authorities searched a townhouse in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Thursday as part of the investigation. Neighbors said the man who lived there had a wife and a baby and did not give any sign of posing a danger to anyone.
Cindy Helwig, who lives diagonally across a narrow street separating the homes, said she last saw the man she knew as Matthew about two weeks ago when he asked her if she had a tool he needed to fix the SUV he was working on.
“He was a normal guy,” said Helwig, who said she last saw his wife and baby earlier this week. Helwig noted that people in the townhome on a hill with views of the mountains don’t interact much except for when they’re getting the mail or walking their dogs.
Another neighbor, Keni Mac, who said she had only seen the man around the neighborhood, said he had tattoos and an “even keeled” demeanor. Mac said she saw the wife, who goes to her gym, walking their dog Wednesday morning.
The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot to death by police. That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack. The FBI said Thursday that they believe Jabbar acted alone, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others.
Both Livelsberger and Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to multiple Army special operations units. However, one of the officials who spoke to the AP said there is no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty.
Chris Raia, FBI deputy assistant director, said Thursday that officials have found ‘no definitive link’ between the New Orleans attack and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.
Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries when the Tesla truck exploded. Video showed a tumble of charred fireworks mortars, canisters and other explosive devices crowded into the back of the pickup. The truck bed walls were still intact because the blast shot straight up rather than to the sides.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself."
Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk was in Las Vegas early Wednesday. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his South Florida estate.
“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Las Vegas.
Musk spent an estimated $250 million during the presidential campaign to support the former president. He was at Trump’s resort on election night and has been a frequent guest there. Trump has named Musk, the world’s richest man, to co-lead a new effort to find ways to cut the government’s size and spending.
Copp, Richer and Long contributed from Washington. Contributing were Associated Press writers Rio Yamat and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; Colleen Slevin in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.
People walk by Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
A Tesla Cybertruck pulls into Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows items found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows a passport belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows items found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows a weapon found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows the Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows an ID belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
Investigators search a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Parker Seibold /The Gazette via AP)
Investigators search a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Parker Seibold /The Gazette via AP)
Investigators search the garbage outside of a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Parker Seibold /The Gazette via AP)
Investigators enter a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
Investigators stand outside a townhouse complex in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
