Sprewell not suspended, told to stay away from team

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Associated Press


GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Latrell Sprewell was fined $250,000 Monday by the New York Knicks, who also told him to stay away from the team until he can make "a positive contribution."


Sprewell was punished for failing to tell the team that he injured his shooting hand two weeks before training camp started. He had surgery last week and is out at least six weeks. He will miss at least the first two weeks of the regular season.

Knicks president Scott Layden met with Sprewell for 20 minutes at the team's practice facility Monday. Sprewell told team officials he broke his hand when he tripped and fell on his new yacht.

According to a report last week in the New York Post, Sprewell might have broken his hand by throwing an errant punch at the boyfriend of a woman who vomited on his yacht.

The newspaper, citing two eyewitnesses who asked not to be identified, said Sprewell was injured when he slammed his right hand into a wall during a skirmish at a late-night party aboard the yacht in Milwaukee.

Layden emphasized that Sprewell was not officially suspended, but no time frame was given for the four-time All-Star's return to the team.

"He has a responsibility to let us know. He had an obligation to do that," said Madison Square Garden president Steve Mills, who also met with Sprewell, along with coach Don Chaney.

Sprewell left practice without speaking to reporters. Layden described him as "upset" by the punishment.

Layden admitted the Knicks are taking a different tack than they had in the past in disciplining Sprewell, whose transgressions were often excused by the team. Sprewell skipped all of training camp in 1999 without explanation, and he routinely has arrived late for games during his four seasons in New York.

The Knicks acquired Sprewell from Golden State after he was suspended for a majority of the 1997-98 season for choking Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo.

"The approach we've taken thus far has not been effective. We need to try something different,'' Layden said.

He said Sprewell will remain an important part of the team, which missed the playoffs last season for the first time in 15 years. Sprewell was the Knicks' second-leading scorer at 19.4 points per game.

He was suspended by the team last season for one game after he missed a shootaround before a game in Miami. But the team later cut that fine from $125,000 to $2,500.

Monday's fine "will not be rescinded,'' Layden said.

damn, that is a huge decision by the Knicks, changing the way that they have been dealing with Spree.

I dunno man, I think the Knicks need to be a bit harder on him, but they really are making a lot out of nothing here. Spree is one of their star players, to drag this out the way they have is awful. I wouldnt be surprised if he didnt want to play for the organization anymore because of the way they have handled this. Yes he did make a mistake, and yes the management should be tougher on him to set him straight - but this is something that should have begun a long time ago. You dont all of a sudden get tough on someone when you have been easy on them throughout the entire relationship. It will be interesting to see what happens, but I personally would like to see Spree stay a Knick.