The Durham District Attorney has dropped assault charges against Charlotte Hornets guard P.J. Hairston, the team confirmed on Thursday.

The charges were filed after a fight in July at a YMCA in Durham. DA Roger Echols dropped the charges at the request of the alleged victim, Northern High School senior forward Kentrell Barkley, according to the Durham Herald Sun, which initially reported the news.

Hairston’s agent, Juan Morrow, told the Observer this summer that his client threw a punch at Barkley in retaliation and that both punches connected.

Barkley, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound senior at Northern Durham High, told reporters he did nothing to provoke Hairston during the pickup game, but said Hairston punched him twice.

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Barkley said he had responded to a Hairston comment before the alleged first blow.

“We were playing and he said to one of his guys, ‘He can’t go right. He always goes left,’ ” Barkley said. “I said, ‘I just went right.’ That was all I said.

“They inbounded the ball to him and he ran right at me. He made a fist and hit me in the forehead. He went ahead and scored at the other end.”

After the charges, Hairston put himself into “self-imposed exile,” from the Triangle, according to his publicist.

Over the past year, Hairston has had various off-court issues, some of which cost him his NCAA eligibility at North Carolina and forced him into the NBA Development League.

Hairston was arrested in a traffic stop in Durham last summer. He was arrested for suspected marijuana possession (the charge was later dropped), and a handgun was found near the car he was in.

He was suspended from North Carolina’s team after an NCAA investigation into his use of rental vehicles tied to convicted felon and party promoter Haydn “Fats” Thomas.

Hairston also was cited in May and June 2013 while he was driving vehicles linked to Thomas. Rick Bonnell contributed.