San Antonio Spurs being sued over sending players home against (Miami) Heat (class action lawsuit)

CBS Sports ^ | January 15, 2013 | Zach Harper

[Zakeet]

Remember when San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sent home four of his players before a nationally televised game against the Miami Heat and was fined $250,000 for it?

Well, so does a lawyer who just filed a suit against the team in Miami-Dade County, citing that the Spurs broke a state law regarding "deceptive and fair trade practices." According to ESPN.com's Darren Rovell, Larry McGuinness filed a class action lawsuit against San Antonio for sending Tim Duncan, Danny Green, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili home before their game against the Heat on Nov. 29, 2012.

On Monday, Larry McGuinness filed a class action suit in Miami-Dade County, stating that the team's head coach, Gregg Popovich, "intentionally and surrepticiously" sent their best players home without the knowledge of the league, the team and the fans attending the Nov. 29 game against the Heat. McGuinness contends that he, as well as other fans, "suffered economic damages" as a result of paying a premium price for a ticket that shouldn't cost more.

This is... kind of ridiculous.

[Zakeet]

Law sharks ... just doing what they do so well ...

[Helotes]

I like this idea. I went to see Steely Dan in San Antonio and they didn’t play “Reelin in the Years”. I think I should be able to sue!:)

What a rip!

[dangus]

I do rather feel for the fans, though. But I can’t possibly imagine the legal precedent this would establish. How many players could be sent home before having to issue partial refunds? What about starting a star but benching him after only a few minutes? Would sending benchwarmers home count less than sending starts home?

[70times7]

That's right! It was so unfair to this ambulance chasing weasel to not see those players on the court. I am sure he is outraged. In fact he is so outraged that instead of simply demanding back his own ticket money he is going to demand back ... yours!

That's right Spurs fans! This leach upon society will first make the Spurs turn over any information they have regarding who had tickets that night. Then he will contact them to advise them that they were not satisfied at that game and should be compensated. He will ask them to sign onto the suit and if they do he will fight hard for them!

How hard will he fight, you ask? Let's see:

The Spurs can seat over 18,500. Prices can vary, but lets use $30 per seat as a reasonable average. Atty Mark Raker may argue that the hot dogs were not as tasty w/out fan faves - who knows? But let's assume atty B. Tom Feeder goes for 2/3rds of each $30. Lets also assume he manages to convince 2/3rds to sign on for free money.

The outcome: Atty Ray P. U. Thoroughly gets the Spurs to pay out a quarter mil, probably more. After all, there need to be punitive damages! If I'm one of the ticket holders I get maybe around 12 bucks. Atty Bud Farker takes home $100K plus. Will this be enough to assuage his wounded spirit when he didn't see his favorite Spurs take the court? Hard to say. After all, he is only doing it for the countless fans who were cheated.

[Delta Dawn]

Hey 70,

the game was in Miami.

[SpinnerWebb]

Same thing applies. Everyone knows they were there to see the Spurs... who is a star on the Heat?

j/k

[Responsibility2nd]

I do rather feel for the fans, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don’t. Miami was very lucky to have even won that game. The Spurs subs have more class and better talent that the entire Heat roster and so Pop did the fans a favor by sending the starters home. It made for a very exciting game.

[Snickering Hound]

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2013-01-16/san-antonio-spurs-lawsuit-sued-miami-heat-sent-players-back-to-texas

There is more to it. The NBA has “Premium Game” pricing, where they charge more for tickets with better teams on the venue.

[70times7]

I'm not redoing the math. Do it yourself.

Btw - what is that flower you have on?

I'm contacting my attorney. I think I have a class action against you for routinely inflicting one of the most heinous earworms in existence on all of FR.

[70times7]

Denny Crane!

[Bidimus1]

Final Score of this travesty aganst the poor heat fans Heat 105 Spurs 100

[Tublecane]

Uh, what? Class maybe. But why did the Heat win a championship last year if they have no talent? Superior gameplanning? Better equipment? Harder training? No, all they have is talent.

[Wuli]

someone placed some bets and lost;

outside of that, buying a ticket to a sports event makes no legal committment that the team uses any certain members at the event

the authority over the team, the league, has already issued the only kind of penalty anyone could rightfully issue

if this were the U.K., where the loser in a case pays the winner’s court costs, the suit would never have been filed

the lawyers involved are banking on a defense against their suit to wind up costing the defendents more than a settlement they hope to get; if they can drag it out long enough, that’s possible, and if it goes that way they’ll get their settlement WITHOUT that being the judgement of a judge or jury

[Alberta's Child]

I think the guy's got a sound legal case, though I'm not sure he can demonstrate sufficient "damages" for his clients to make it worthwhile to pursue legal action here.

Since I'm not an NBA fan, I don't really understand what he's complaining about. His clients basically paid to see a Harlem Globetrotters game, right? What's the big deal?

[Rebelbase]

More important that a frivolous lawsuit is why were the players sent home?

[TexanByBirth]

The game in Miami was the Spurs’ fifth game in one week, all on the road!

They won the first four, including the night before the Miami game in Orlando.

And the Spurs stars are not exactly spring chickens.

Pop gave them two days off before the next Spurs game at home.