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NBA assistant coach sues Vegas casino over brawl
The NBA's Charles Oakley claims his celebrity status has nothing to do with him not getting arrested after a poolside brawl at a Strip casino last year.
Oakley is suing the Aria and its security guards because he claims the guards beat him after he tried to enter a VIP Elgin Baylor Blue Jersey pool area.
The MGM Resorts International casino and several of its employees countersued Oakley last month, saying he started the tussle but avoided criminal charges because he's famous.
Oakley's lawyers countered in a court filing Friday that the retired basketball player Authentic Elgin Baylor Yellow Throwback Jersey didn't commit a crime.
Oakley, 47, an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats, claims health problems caused during the Aria assault are hurting his career. He cited back troubles after missing the final 13 games last season and said he is contemplating surgery.
Oakley and officials from the hotel have widely differing accounts of how a lazy May 2010 afternoon by the pool turned violent.
Oakley claims he was at the pool with a group of friends and business associates when he briefly left. As he tried to return to the party, he claims Aria's security guards stopped him, prompting an argument between Authentic Elgin Baylor Yellow Jersey Oakley and the hotel staff. Oakley said he consequently left the pool and was returning to his room when he was attacked by at least five security guards in a "gang style beat down," according to the lawsuit.
The complaint contends the officers wrestled Oakley to the ground and punched and handcuffed him, and that he was taken to the hospital with injuries to his neck, back, head and wrist, "all or some of which may be permanent and disabling."
The complaint Elgin Baylor Blue Throwback Jersey alleges negligence, assault, assault with excessive force, battery, false imprisonment and defamation. It seeks unspecified general, special and punitive damages.
But lawyers representing Aria argued in a counterclaim that Oakley became upset after pool employees began to close the pool area at the end of the day, and wouldn't allow him to invite women to join his party. He began pushing the security guards, forcing them to restrain him, according to the counterclaim.
Aria employees also claim Oakley threw a bystander's $2,500 camera in the pool because he didn't want the man to take his picture.
The fight allegedly continued inside the hotel when Oakley refused to discuss the incident with Aria staffers. Hotel officials said Oakley instead began punching, biting, kicking and spitting on the Aria employees, who again tried to restrain him.
The counterclaim argues that Oakley is a violent celebrity with a history of Authentic Elgin Baylor Purple Throwback Jersey basketball fouls and scuffles off the court. It states that Oakley consumed several alcoholic cocktails by Lakers Elgin Baylor Authentic Jersey the pool with his friends, including Boston Celtics player Jermaine O'Neal.
Oakley wants to portray himself as a victim, the resort's lawyers said.
"When, in reality, he was the vicious aggressor who provoked the incidents at issue," the counterclaim states.
The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Oakley was a power forward for Chicago, New York, Toronto, Washington and Houston between 1985 and 2004. He earned a reputation as one of the NBA's all-time tough guys during his 18-year playing career. He once was suspended for his role in a brawl involving Official Elgin Baylor Jersey Shaquille O'Neal and later for throwing a basketball at Tyrone Hill's head during a long-running dispute over a gambling debt.
