Spurs zealot making case against Zaza
The San Antonio Spurs lost small forward Kawhi Leonard to an injured ankle after being fouled by Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia during Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference final against the Golden State Warriors. The foul was not reviewed by the league and the injury caused Leonard to miss Game 2 of the series.
San Antonio resident and Spurs fan Juan Vazquez isn’t letting go so easily.
On Tuesday, Vazquez filed a lawsuit against Pachulia and the Warriors on behalf of Spurs season ticket holders and San Antonio card shop What’s On Second.
“All we are asking from the court is that this type of behavior, that can and does cause serious injury to our team and those that love it, not be allowed in San Antonio,” Alfonso Kennard, Jr., the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told Nick Moyle of the San Antonio Express-News.
The suit claims Pachulia acted “without excuse or justification, intentionally and maliciously invaded the landing zone of an opposing athlete, Kawhi Leonard.”
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich also wasn’t happy with Pachulia, deeming the play that caused Leonard’s injury “dangerous” and “unsportsmanlike.”
“This particular individual has a history with that kind of action,” Popovich said earlier this week. “You can go back and look at Dallas [Mavericks] games where he got a flagrant two for elbowing Patty Mills. The play where he took Kawhi down and locked his arm in Dallas and could have broken his arm. Ask David West, his current teammate, how things went when Zaza was playing for Dallas and he and David got into it.”
Vazquez channeled Popovich’s anger into a civil suit.
Pachulia’s action, according to the complaint, “devastated the quality of the Spurs’ chances of being competitive and having additional games in their home arena, both in the Western Conference Finals and also potentially the NBA Finals” and also negatively affected “the value of the tickets purchased by plaintiff subsequent to their purchase.”
The lawsuit seeks damages of no more than $73,000.