Sprewell files suit against New York Post

NEW YORK, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Latrell Sprewell, who already has his problems with the New York Knicks, is nowtaking on the New York Post.

Before being disciplined again by the team, Sprewell said Monday he is suing the newspaper for $40 million over stories concerning how the forward broke his hand.

Two weeks ago, the Knicks fined Sprewell $250,000 for failing to inform the team that he broke his right pinky on Sept. 20, two weeks before the start of training camp.

The Post, citing two anonymous sources, reported Oct. 4 that Sprewell was injured when he hit a wall with his hand while throwing a punch. The newspaper said the punch was thrown at a man on Sprewell's yacht after the man's girlfriend vomited.

Marc Berman, the Knicks' beat writer for the Post, also was mentioned in the lawsuit, which alleges that the story was published with a "reckless disregard for the truth."

According to the lawsuit, the story, and subsequent articles on the subject, were libelous and caused damage to Sprewell's reputation.

"We believe we have a strong case against NYP Holding and Mr. Berman," said Stephen G Weizenecker, an attorney for Sprewell. "We are confident that the facts presented by us in the courtroom will prove the reckless disregard by Mr. Berman as published in the New York Post."

Sprewell's agent, Bob Gist, claimed Sprewell hurt his hand while skippering the yacht into safety after the boat was hit by a big wave.

Sprewell has been ordered to stay from the Knicks until he can make "a positive contribution." The standoff had grown to the point where Knicks management refused to discuss Sprewell's status in recent days.

The team made a statement Monday, suspending Sprewell one game for not adhering to the rehabilitation program developed by the medical staff.

While Sprewell - whose NBA improprieties include choking former coach P.J. Carlesimo - already was supposed to miss the first two weeks of the regular season, he was suspended for Tuesday's preseason game against the Utah Jazz.

According to the Knicks, Sprewell failed to begin supervised workouts last week, as he was instructed to do, and more recently removed the splint from his hand without consulting team doctors.

"We are very disappointed that we have to take these steps with Latrell," Knicks president Scott Layden said. "But his actions with regard to his rehabilitation have left us no choice."

Management was not overly concerned with how Sprewell broke the hand, but rather why he waited 10 days to inform them. Sprewell has appealed the $250,000 fine.