Ex-UCLA star Reeves Nelson will sue for $10 million, according to TMZ on Wednesday, over an article about his alleged behavior written by Sports Illustrated’s George Dohrmann in March.
The SI story, citing anonymous sources, said that Nelson fought with teammates, booted balls in the stands and asked team managers to “fetch” and even urinated on his roommate’s clothes.
Citing Nelson’s lawyer Keith Fink, TMZ said that the lawsuit claims that the SI “recklessly and negligently failed to investigate the claims in the article.” According to the report, there are 18 current and former Bruins players who refute the allegations against Nelson.
According to the report from Deadspin that we wrote about in March, Fink sent a letter to SI editor-in-chief John Huey in which it says Dohrmann’s claims are “false and defamatory” – the first sign that Nelson had lawyered up.
Nelson, a former First Team All-Pac 10 player, was the Bruins’ leading scorer and rebounder at one point. However, he was suspended multiple times and then dismissed for good midseason.
That much he can’t deny, but it seems as though he’s ready to reclaim some of the rest of his reputation.
[TMZ]
