The San Antonio Spurs lost small forward Kawhi Leonard to an injured ankle after being fouled by Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia during Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference final against the Golden State Warriors. The foul was not reviewed by the league and the injury caused Leonard to miss Game 2 of the series.
San Antonio resident and Spurs fan Juan Vazquez isn't letting go so easily.
On Tuesday, Vazquez filed a lawsuit against Pachulia and the Warriors on behalf of Spurs season ticket holders and San Antonio card shop What's On Second.
"All we are asking from the court is that this type of behavior, that can and does cause serious injury to our team and those that love it, not be allowed in San Antonio," Alfonso Kennard, Jr., the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told Nick Moyle of the San Antonio Express-News.
The suit claims Pachulia acted "without excuse or justification, intentionally and maliciously invaded the landing zone of an opposing athlete, Kawhi Leonard."
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich also wasn't happy with Pachulia, deeming the play that caused Leonard's injury "dangerous" and "unsportsmanlike."
"This particular individual has a history with that kind of action," Popovich said earlier this week. "You can go back and look at Dallas [Mavericks] games where he got a flagrant two for elbowing Patty Mills. The play where he took Kawhi down and locked his arm in Dallas and could have broken his arm. Ask David West, his current teammate, how things went when Zaza was playing for Dallas and he and David got into it."
Vazquez channeled Popovich's anger into a civil suit.
Pachulia's action, according to the complaint, "devastated the quality of the Spurs' chances of being competitive and having additional games in their home arena, both in the Western Conference Finals and also potentially the NBA Finals" and also negatively affected "the value of the tickets purchased by plaintiff subsequent to their purchase."
The lawsuit seeks damages of no more than $73,000.
Lost cause
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban admitted Wednesday the franchise tried to lose games after being eliminated from playoff contention this season.
As a guest on The Dan Patrick Show, Cuban was asked about tanking after the team landed the ninth overall pick in the draft lottery Tuesday night.
"Once we were eliminated from the playoffs, we did everything possible to lose games," Cuban said.
Dallas finished the regular season with the league's ninth-worst record after going 2-8 over its final 10 games, missing the Western Conference playoffs by eight games.
In November, ESPN's Tim MacMahon noted Cuban didn't believe tanking entire seasons in an effort to accumulate a series of high draft picks was a formula for long-term success.
"There are so many teams that became four years away from four years away because guys just learned how to lose," Cuban said. "They stopped caring about any individual game and just got used to it, and you don't want guys developing those bad habits. We have so many young guys on this team, we want the games to mean something. Not to be, 'OK, who are we going to pull in the fourth quarter so we can lose this game?' That's not how teams develop good habits."
An idea to change the draft lottery process that's been brought forth in the NHL is the "Gold Plan," which Patrick mentioned to Cuban in their interview. It suggests placing teams in a draft order based on the number of points, or victories in the NBA's case, after they are mathematically out of playoff contention.
Cuban said he didn't believe that would work because teams would simply try to get eliminated from playoff contention sooner.
Flag football anyone?
Former Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick is set to take part in a test game for the American Flag Football League next month in San Jose, Calif.
On Thursday, Darren Rovell of ESPN.com reported the four-time Pro Bowl selection along with former NFL running back Justin Forsett will feature in the June 27 event. Plans are currently being made for an eight-team league to begin play sometime in 2018.
AFFL founder Jeff Lewis told Rovell he thought of the idea while watching his son play flag football and believes the league will attract players who don’t make the NFL cut.
“I just thought to myself, ‘What would this look like if great athletes played this?’” Lewis said. “There’s certainly a huge pool to take guys from. Every single year, NFL teams cut 800 guys. We need less than 100 players to field eight teams.”
He added: “We think what will make this successful is urgency, affinity and quality. This is why shows like American Idol and American Ninja Warrior have been popular. We think the game and how we’ve set it up will give us this.”
He confirmed his retirement from the NFL in February after sitting out the entire 2016 season. He last played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and previously made stops with Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets after establishing himself as one of the league’s most dynamic weapons in Atlanta.
“In this moment right now, I’m willing to say, ‘Yeah, I’m officially retired.’ I think it’s time,” Vick told ESPN’s Josina Anderson. “I think going through the 2016 season without playing and being able to be a spectator and watch the game and enjoy it from afar and root for a lot of the players and coaches I once played for, I think kind of summed it all up for me. So now I think I’m officially ready, I’m ready to move on to different things in my life and different facets of my life.”
Quote of the day
“He’s a fighter. He’s a warrior. He’s impressive
to me.”
Gosnell track Coach David Brown, about decathlon winner Marquel McKinney competing with a sore leg
Sports quiz
Which team drafted Zaza Pachulia in the 2003 NBA Draft?
Answer
Pachulia was drafted in the second round with the 42nd overall pick by the Orlando Magic.
Sports on 05/19/2017