ST. FRANCIS, Wis. -- No charges will be filed in an altercation at a Milwaukee nightclub involving Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders, according to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.
After reviewing the incident, the district attorney's office determined numerous people, including Sanders, were involved in an altercation at the Apartment 720 club during the early morning hours of Nov. 3.
But police were unable to determine how the altercation started and who initiated it and decided not to issue criminal charges. The district attorney's office has referred the case back to the Milwaukee Police Department to determine if any municipal citations will be issued.
Bucks coach Larry Drew was in the middle of practice when the news of Sanders not being charged was released.
"I think that's real good news," Drew said. "Not knowing exactly what happened and what took place, you leave those things up to the lawyers and all of the parties that are involved. I'm happy to hear no charges were made. Hopefully everything will be taken care of so we can move forward and get him back out there on the floor."
Sanders missed Wednesday's victory over Cleveland due to a sprained right thumb. According to Drew, Sanders injured the thumb during Saturday's game against Toronto, not during the incident at the nightclub.
Drew said Sanders did some work on the side Thursday, but his right thumb is now in a splint. His status for Saturday's game against Dallas has not been determined.
"I think he's very capable of moving forward," Drew said. "Me, as a coach, his teammates, the organization, everybody that's a part of his life -- we want to try to help him move forward. Hopefully he'll learn from this incident and he can put it behind him, and we can march on."
Bucks point guard Brandon Knight echoed Drew's hope that the team will support Sanders.
"I don't know what happened, so I can't comment on it," Knight said. "I support Larry through anything, no matter what it is."
Ever since he came to the Bucks, Drew has been active in working with Sanders on his emotions both on and off the court. Sanders told his coach he never should have been in position to have an altercation happen.
Signed to a four-year, $44 million contract extension this summer, Sanders has struggled to follow up on last year's breakout campaign. Sanders has only played three games in a long NBA season, but he's averaging just 2.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
"I'll continue to be that little birdie on his shoulder," Drew said. "Not just for him but for all of the guys. It's unfortunate that the incident happened, but again, we have to learn from it. He has to learn from it, and I really believe that he will.
"Life is just too short. We, and I say we meaning those who are in the public eye, we just have to be aware of a lot of things. We have to not put ourselves in certain positions. In my conversation with him, that was one of the first things he said about the entire situation -- that he never should have put himself in the situation."
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