Knicks suspend Sprewell

NEW YORK -- Latrell Sprewell was suspended by the New York Knicks on Monday for not following the team's instructions for rehabilitating his broken right hand.\nThe disciplinary move came on the same day that Sprewell's agent announced a $40 million lawsuit against the New York Post for its account of how he was injured.\nKnicks president Scott Layden announced the suspension, which will cost Sprewell $140,000 in lost salary.\n"We are very disappointed that we have to take these steps with Latrell, but his actions with regard to his rehabilitation have left us no choice."\nAlready banished from the team until he can make "a positive contribution," Sprewell will now be officially banned from Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night when the Knicks play the Utah Jazz.\nLayden said Sprewell had failed to begin supervised workouts last week and had removed the splint from his hand without consulting team doctors.\n"The team has no choice but to take this action at this time," Layden said.\nThe suspension will cost Sprewell 1/90th of his $12.6 million salary. He is under contract to the Knicks for two more seasons.\nSprewell's lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, seeks an additional $250,000 from the Post for the amount Sprewell was fined by the team for not reporting his injury promptly.\nSprewell has filed a formal appeal of that fine through the players' union. It was not immediately clear if he would also contest Monday's suspension.\nNamed in the suit was Post staff writer Marc Berman, who quoted two anonymous sources in an Oct. 4 story that said Sprewell was injured when he hit a wall while throwing a punch at a man whose girlfriend vomited aboard Sprewell's yacht.\n"Those accounts are false and contributed to a breakdown in relations with the team, and contributed to the size of the fine," said Gist, who claimed that Sprewell's injury occurred when the player fell on the yacht.\nBerman defended his story, saying it was accurate.\nGist said Sprewell was injured when he slipped and fell on his boat sometime after his birthday party on Sept. 8.\n"I'm saying Latrell fell on his boat," Gist said. "I don't know what he was doing _ steering or what. I know he was not fighting on the boat. It had nothing to do with a fight, and it had nothing to do with a party."\nGist said Sprewell reported the injury to the Knicks when he arrived at the team's training facility on Sept. 30. He said the team considered the injury minor but ordered X-rays as a precaution.\nThe X-rays revealed a displaced fracture of the pinkie bone below the knuckle, and Sprewell had surgery and a pin inserted.\nGist denied Knicks' claims that Sprewell withheld notification of the injury from the team.\n"In fact, they did know," the attorney said. "They told Latrell not to talk to the press. They suppressed communication. There was an attempt to sweep it under the rug."\nSprewell did not attend the news conference, instead driving to suburban Greenburgh after the Knicks summoned him to their practice facility. Gist said he had received several calls late Sunday night from Layden.\n"He was vehemently opposed to the cast being off," Gist said. "He wanted Latrell in first thing this morning to have (trainer) Mike Saunders replace the splint."\nGist said the splint had been uncomfortable, and since the pin is scheduled to be removed on Tuesday, Sprewell decided to remove the cast over the weekend.\n"It is essential that Latrell follow the rehabilitation program developed for him by our medical and training staffs, so his injury heals and he gets back in playing shape as soon as possible, and to date he has not done that," Layden said. "On several occasions during the past week, Latrell has defied team instructions and the terms of his contract with regard to his rehabilitation.\n"He failed to begin supervised workouts last week as he was instructed to do, and more recently removed the splint from his hand without consulting with the team doctors," Layden said.\nSprewell was New York's second-leading scorer last season, averaging 19.4 points. His absence has left the Knicks without two of their best players, as Antonio McDyess went down with a season-ending knee injury in the team's third exhibition game.