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Fine line Union appeals penalties while Sprewell rejoins teamPosted: Thursday October 24, 2002 6:48 PMUpdated: Thursday October 24, 2002 7:36 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Latrell Sprewell filed two appeals against the New York Knicks on Thursday, including one for a $50,000 fine that was not previously disclosed. Sprewell's appeals were filed by the players' union one day after his unofficial banishment from the team was lifted and he was allowed to return to practice. The appeals were the second and third filed by Sprewell this month. He earlier grieved a $250,000 fine levied against him by the Knicks for failing to inform the team of an injury -- a broken bone in his shooting hand -- when it occurred in early September. Thursday's appeals concerned a one-game suspension the team handed down Monday after Sprewell failed to follow the team's rehabilitation instructions, along with a $50,000 fine for missing a private workout Thursday at the team's practice facility. "Chances are that all three cases will be consolidated into one case," union spokesman Dan Wasserman said. The appeals will be heard by arbitrator Roger Kaplan, likely within the next three months. In the meantime, collective bargaining rules call for the fine money to be held in an escrow account until a decision is handed down. Sprewell will argue that the fines and the suspension were unwarranted and excessive, Wasserman said. A Knicks spokesman confirmed that Sprewell was handed a previously undisclosed $50,000 fine. "We don't always announce fines," team spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz said. Sprewell met Wednesday with Knicks president and general manager Scott Layden, coach Don Chaney and Madison Square Garden executive Steve Mills and was given permission to rejoin the team. He is still at least two weeks away from playing after having surgery to repair a displaced fracture of his pinkie beneath the knuckle. "The thing that was most disappointing for me was not being able to be a part of the team, be in the practices, be around my teammates," he said. The New York Post reported that Sprewell broke his hand while throwing an errant punch at the boyfriend of a woman who had vomited on a carpet aboard his new yacht while docked in Milwaukee. Sprewell called the story "ridiculous" and filed a $40.25 million lawsuit against the newspaper in State Supreme Court in New York. He said he injured the hand when he slipped and fell aboard his boat. Sprewell has a history of conflicts with his employers. In 1997, he was suspended for one year by the NBA for choking Golden State Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo. An arbitrator later reduced the suspension to 68 games. |
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