Ex-NBA Star Spars with Lawyer in Deposition 'Like a Bad 1970s Movie,' Wins Dismissal
Allen Iverson told an opposing lawyer just what he thought of him at the end of a combative deposition in a lawsuit against the former NBA star over a bar fight.
“Go to hell,” Iverson told lawyer Gregory Lattimer, who had just thanked the basketball player for sitting for the deposition. The Detroit News obtained a transcript of the sparring and publicized it as a judge dismissed the suit on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds said there was no evidence that Iverson had been involved in the fight.
According to the Detroit News, the transcript “reads like a bad 1970s movie as a profane Iverson trades barbs with the lawyer.” Iverson had a history with Lattimer; the lawyer had represented plaintiffs in two previous suits against Iverson. One resulted in a $260,000 judgment against Iverson and the other ended in a confidential settlement.
During the August deposition, Iverson denied any role in the fight. “I die before I let you get me this time,” he said. “I’m as clean as the Board of Health man.”
Iverson also questioned Lattimer’s motives. The Detroit News published this exchange:
Iverson: “I know you lurking. I know you lurking, man. I know you lurking. … How the hell you live with [it]? You’ve been involved with three suits against me. You know what to do. You got a plan.”
Lattimer: “I just go to work every day.”
Iverson: “I know, and I’m the one that pay you, and you know it. But not this time jack. “
The Detroit News asked Lattimer for his response to the deposition. “I don’t know why he was so outraged,” Lattimer said of Iverson. “It’s not like I sue him every day.”
