Warriors Terminate Sprewell
Latrell Sprewell had his $32 million contract terminated by the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in a bold and unprecedented reaction to the player’s attack on coach P.J. Carlesimo.
The termination was made official in a letter to Sprewell sent by general manager Garry St. Jean.
“This was a unanimous decision by the Warriors organization that involves a clear matter of right and wrong,” St. Jean said.
“There is no issue to compromise. Outrageous misconduct by players in professional sports has been tolerated for too long. We are drawing the line.”
It was the first time in NBA history a player has had his contract terminated for insubordination.
In a letter sent to Sprewell on Tuesday officially informing him of his 10-game suspension, the team said it reserved the right to terminate his contract.
Some NBA players have a personal conduct guarantee clause in their contracts that prohibits teams from terminating them based upon their behavior.
Sprewell had no such protection.
The termination of Sprewell’s contract was the latest in a long string of developments Wednesday in the aftermath of Sprewell’s attack on Carlesimo at practice Monday.
Sprewell spoke publicly for the first time since the incident, admitting he made a mistake. But Sprewell did not apologize to Carlesimo, saying his attack on the coach was provoked “after a lot of verbal abuse by P.J.”
Clearly missing the scoring of Sprewell, the Warriors lost their first game without their former star 95-67 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
The loss kept the Warriors winless in six home games.
Cleamons’ future shaky
The Mavericks’ braintrust of owner Ross Perot Jr., president Terdema Ussery and general manager Don Nelson will hold an emergency meeting after tonight’s game at Reunion Arena, at which sources within the organization indicate a decision will be finalized to replace coach Jim Cleamons with Nelson.
Though Nelson apparently opposes the move, which won’t become final until approved by Perot, a source said Wednesday night the coaching change is “all but a done deal.”