NBA: 'We have had enough of Mr. Sprewell'
Judge dismisses Sprewell's $30 million discrimination suit
Posted: Thursday July 30, 1998 09:54 PM
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Sprewell's factual allegations were ruled to be too vague to prove the violations they claimed AP |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Latrell
Sprewell's $30 million lawsuit against the NBA was dismissed Thursday
by a federal judge. Sprewell, whose one-year suspension for
choking his coach was reduced by an arbitrator, claimed the suspension was
racially discriminatory and violated his right to make a living.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker left room for the suit to be revived,
giving Sprewell's attorneys 30 days to tie their legal claims more closely
to the facts of the case. But Walker said they should seriously consider
dropping the matter. Frank Rothman, a lawyer for the NBA, asked
Walker to dismiss the suit permanently and impose a financial penalty on
Sprewell's lawyers for a "scurrilous" claim of racial discrimination, which
had not been made while the case was in arbitration. "We have
had enough of Mr. Sprewell," Rothman told the judge. "I think he came away
from this arbitration very, very fortunate because of the compassion of the
arbitrator, more compassion than I would have given him."
Rothman said he thought Sprewell should have been suspended for life.
"He choked his head coach, he threatened to kill him, left bruises
and scars," and returned after 20 minutes for a second attack, Rothman
said. The NBA initially suspended Sprewell for a year and
allowed the Golden State Warriors to terminate the last three years and $24
million of his contract. But after a lengthy hearing, arbitrator
John Feerick ruled in March that the punishment was excessive, and ordered
Sprewell reinstated July 1, cutting his suspension to 68 games.
Sprewell's suit against the NBA and the Warriors claimed that the
arbitrator had exceeded his authority by allowing the league and the team
to impose separate punishments. The suit also contended he was punished
more harshly than white players who had attacked coaches, that the NBA and
the Warriors had conspired to cut off his endorsement contracts, and that a
ban on attending games during his suspension violated his civil rights.
During the hearing, Walker pressed Sprewell's lawyers for specifics,
saying their factual allegations were too vague to prove the violations
they claimed. Asked for examples of discrimination, attorney
Robert Thompson said Phoenix Suns forward Tom Chambers,
who is white, wasn't suspended for punching the team's strength and
conditioning coach a few weeks before the Sprewell incident.
When Walker pointed out that Chambers had not attacked his head coach,
Thompson said the two incidents were comparable and added, "Mr. Sprewell
would not have received similar treatment if he were white."
Referring to the claim that Sprewell was denied his right to make a living,
Walker said, "The NBA isn't the only game in town." But Thompson said the
NBA and the Warriors had effectively gotten Sprewell blacklisted from the
elite level of the game and its accompanying benefits, such as
endorsements. Thompson's assertion that the treatment of
Sprewell had a "chilling effect" on other players was greeted skeptically
by Walker, who asked who the other players were and what they were chilled
from doing. A player must now fear the consequences "if you
didn't toe the line and do exactly what the coach told you to do," Thompson
replied. But Walker said he would have to identify other players to proceed
with the claim. Thompson, a lawyer for Sprewell, said he thought
the suit could be narrowed and revived, but that no decision had been made
yet. "It depends on how we evaluate it," said Sprewell, who
attended the hearing. Jeffrey Mishkin, the NBA's chief legal
officer, said the league was pleased with the decision. "This is
a case that never should have been brought," Mishkin said. "It is entirely
baseless."
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