Indiana Pacers player Chris Copeland is already stable after he was stabbed in New York's Chelsea neighborhood as the 6-8 forward apologized to fans for his "bad choice."

Chris Copeland was with Katrine Saltara when they were stabbed following a heated altercation at around 4 a.m. after they stepped out of the 1OAK nightclub. They were walking toward their car when the incident occurred.

"The former New York Knicks player was stabbed in the abdomen while Saltara was stabbed three times in the arm, breast and buttocks during an argument," said E! News. "Copeland's driver witnessed what happened and alerted police."

Two Atlanta Hawks players, Pero Antic and Thabo Sefolosha, were accosted for police for obstruction of justice after they reportedly prevented the cops from setting up the crime scene.

They were rushed to the Bellevue Hospital after the stabbing where the Indiana Pacers forward's condition was declared as stable.

In a statement, however, Chris Copeland said:

"I want to thank all the fans, friends, teammates, coaches and the Pacers organization for their support and prayers during this time. I also want to apologize to everyone, particularly the NBA and the Pacers for my bad choice at being out at that time. I am doing as well as can be expected and I will work hard to make a full recovery."

But ProBasketball Sports said that the Chris Copeland apology was unnecessary.

"The Pacers had a shootaround scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday morning. That left plenty of time for Copeland - if he hadn't been stabbed - to sleep. Plus, he easily could have taken a long nap before the 7:30 p.m. game against the Knicks," it said.

Also, the article added, Chris Copeland's playing time will reduce even further now that Paul George has come back from injury. So even if he was out late, which led to the stabbing, it wouldn't have mattered much.