Greenwell said that as Brandon walked away, Gritty ran out of his chair and “punched my son as hard as he could.”
Greenwell, who told the newspaper that he only wanted an apology and something special for his son, filed a complaint with police Dec. 21. A police spokesperson said Tuesday that the investigation is “active and ongoing.”
Officials at Comcast Spectacor, the company that owns the Flyers, said it conducted an investigation but could not verify whether the alleged assault happened.
“We took Mr. Greenwell’s allegations seriously and conducted a thorough investigation that found nothing to support this claim,” a Flyers spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Wilson found unresponsive by a relative, per Birmingham police. He was 25.
Wilson played for the Bulldogs from 2013–15, and he was a member of the 2014 team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation from Oct. 13 to Nov. 10. Wilson caught 132 passes in three seasons at Mississippi State, tallying 1,936 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was Wilson's teammates in Starkville for three straight seasons. The duo posted a 26–13 record alongside former head coach Dan Mullen.
Wilson briefly appeared in the Arena Football League after going undrafted in 2016
Atlanta announced. The two-time All-Star played the last two seasons in St. Louis after five seasons in Miami.
Ozuna hit 29 home runs and drove in 89 RBI in 2019. He posted a .779 OPS in two seasons with the Cardinals, adding a combined 52 doubles.
Atlanta adds Ozuna after winning back-to-back National League East titles in 2018 and 2019. The Braves will put the 29-year-old in the outfield alongside 22-year-old phenom Ronald Acuna and either Nick Markakis or Ender Inciarte. Acuna and Co. were knocked out of the playoffs in the NLDS in each of the last two seasons.
Ozuna posted his best season in 2017 before joining the Cardinals. He bashed 37 homers for the Marlins while driving in 124 runs, finishing 15th in the NL MVP vote.
Outfielder Marcell Ozuna, who hit 29 home runs for the Cardinals last season, will play for the Atlanta Braves in 2020 on one-year contract worth $18 million contract.
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this morning’s column, flat out saying that he felt all of this was possible “when Arizona drafted Kyler Murray.” And obviously, saying that sort of thing was a great display of how the Niners felt about Nick Bosa back in March and April, and what they’ve gotten from him since. Which is why, after York said it, I decided to go run it by Bosa himself. “Obviously there's more to (winning the NFC title) than that, but, I mean, it's really cool to be a part of this team,” Bosa said. “So many good veterans, so many good young guys. I came to the right place. And for Jed to say that, it means the world to me. He's been through a lot this year, so just to bring this to this franchise is pretty awesome.”
• Wanna really go nuts with the season the Niners have? Just take a look at how close they were to heading for Miami at 18–0. They have three losses on the year—one in overtime to the Seahawks, another on a long last-second field goal in Baltimore, and the third on a review at the end of the game against Atlanta. “Even my Super Bowl year, I think there were three or four clunkers where we really just didn't come to play,” GM John Lynch said, in a quiet moment postgame. “This team, every game—maybe the Atlanta game the energy wasn't right, but even that game we were up 10 with eight minutes left. We screwed it up. But you won in such a variety of ways: shootout against Drew Brees, the game in the rain against the Redskins, the 9–0 game, running the ball, throwing the ball, defensively. When you can win in a variety of ways, you've got a chance every week and that gives you a ton of confidence.”
• Getting Vikings assistant GM George Paton to interview despite his concerns with the organization was a little like getting Patriots OC Josh McDaniels to show up for Cleveland—it’s a win, even if it doesn’t result in a hire. Paton’s as well-respected as they come and, like McDaniels, has been selective in the past. Obviously, his relationship with new Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski helps. And he’ll tell those with the Browns what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear. We’ll see where this goes. My feeling is the Browns probably still have some convincing to do. Getting Paton would help to heal a lot that’s gone wrong the last couple weeks.
• New Houston defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver is certainly highly regarded—a former player, the promoted line coach is smart, respected and considered a good teacher who’s done well developing young guys. But obviously, there are larger questions with this being the second piece of turnover in the last couple days. Departing capologist Chris Olsen was one of the guys let go, and part of the layer of department chiefs that owner Cal McNair put atop his flat organizational structure (as are coach Bill O’Brien, EVP Jack Easterby, and scouting directors Matt Bazirgan and James Liipfert). Where will this all go? Many in NFL circles think that will remain up in the air until the fate of Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, whose contract is up in May, is determined.
• NFL scouts are out working the XFL circuit already, with scrimmages held over the last few days. I’d expect the level of talent out there to be similar to what you saw in the AAF last year. And there were guys that came out of those ranks last spring that became factors in the NFL in the fall. Eagles receiver Greg Ward was one. Niners tackle Daniel Brunskill, who was a valuable fill-in when San Francisco lost its tackles, is another.
• Since we didn’t address the Luke Kuechly retirement in the morning column—I always have something I forget to put in there, and we led last week’s mailbag with a piece on him—I figured this would be a good place to pass along more memories of his career, these from Bills GM Brandon Beane, who was director of football operations and assistant GM in Carolina during Kuechly’s first six years. “He’s the rare guy who had it all,” said Beane. “He’s super smart, his instincts are a 12 on a scale of 1–10 and his work ethic’s at the same level. And it’s very rare that someone with the instincts, smarts and athleticism he had still has drive like he did. On Thursday nights during the week, I’d walk down there and he’s got every linebacker still there with them, teaching them how to watch film, what to look for. The coaches would be gone, and I’d see them grabbing food that was set out for the coaches and going back to work. I don’t know many like him. Usually people that have the talent might not have the same drive. So he had the whole thing and he wanted to help others.”
To that end, Beane remembered a good example of that from the 2015 NFC title game. Kuechly picked the ball off and ran it all the way back—the game was pretty much done, the Panthers were going to the Super Bowl. And as he ran through the end zone, a fan who was, let’s say, overserved tumbled from the stands. Instead of celebrating, Kuechly stopped, went over, and helped the guy back to his seat. “That’s Luke Kuechly in a nutshell,” said Beane. And maybe the highest compliment Beane could give Kuechly—in 2018, as badly as he and Sean McDermott wanted find a quarterback for the offense, they just as much wanted one for their defense, because they saw the difference a good one could make. Which is part of why they traded up for Tremaine Edmunds.
• I mentioned in the All-32, how the Titans have some complex decisions to make on free agents this March—with quarterback Ryan Tannehill and tailback Derrick Henry topping the list. And I shouldn’t have forgotten right tackle Jack Conklin. The offensive line was a strength of that team down the stretch, and Conklin was GM Jon Robinson’s first draft pick in Nashville. They declined his fifth-year option last season, largely for health reasons. That decision, after a healthy year for Conklin, could cost them now.
• While we’re there, the Packers have a decision to make on a right tackle of their own—with 31-year-old bedrock Bryan Bulaga up. Given what linemen have made on the market the last couple years, and the shortage of good ones across the NFL, both guys would be wise to test the market before deciding whether or not to stay in their current locales (where they do happen to be good fits).
Information about the accident is contained in a press release issued by Morgan & Morgan, one of the nation’s largest personal injury firms. According to the release, Parsons retained attorneys John Morgan and Nick Panagakis in the aftermath of a terrible incident. Parsons, his attorneys note, was driving home from a Hawks practice at about 2 p.m. on Jan. 15 when he was involved in a three-car collision at a busy intersection in Atlanta’s Brookhaven neighborhood. The accident was allegedly caused by a drunk driver. This driver, whose name has not been released but is a male, was charged with driving under the influence and cited for failure to yield while turning left. Alcohol was found in his car and he apparently admitted to drinking.
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution has obtained the police report from the incident. It supplies additional details. The at-fault driver made a left turn into traffic, which precipitated the crash. Police found the driver knocked unconscious from the crash. Inside his car, police discovered a 7-Up bottle containing alcohol while “the heavy odor of alcohol” reeked throughout the vehicle. Neither Parson nor the driver of the third car was cited by police. The report also indicates that Parsons declined to be taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment.
According to his attorneys, Parsons suffered life-altering and potentially career-ending injuries in the crash. Traumatic brain injury, disc herniation and a torn labrum are among the injuries. The degree of injuries is graver than was assumed last week when the Hawks announced the placement of Parsons in the NBA’s concussion protocol due to whiplash caused by a car wreck.
As a contextual point, a press release issued by a law firm about a client should be viewed in the appropriate light. A law firm has ethical and professional duties to aggressively advocate—“zealously advocate," per the Model Rules of Professional Conduct—on behalf of a client. A law firm is not a neutral narrator of past events involving a client. None of this is to suggest that Parsons didn’t suffer the severity of injuries described by his attorneys or that he is in any way responsible for his injuries (or those of anyone else injured in the three-car wreck), but the fact-pattern will be subject to greater scrutiny in the weeks and months ahead.
One certain fact that reflects favorably on Parsons is that law enforcement declined to cite him for violating a criminal statute or a traffic ordinance. The absence of legal fault helps to corroborate the narrative shaped by Parsons’s attorneys.
The rise and fall of Chandler Parsons’s NBA career
The NBA career of Chandler Parsons has two parts. They could be labeled “the good” and “the bad.” This point could become relevant should Parsons sue the driver. More on that below.
A second-round pick by the Houston Rockets in the 2011 NBA draft, Parsons vastly exceeded expectations during his first five NBA seasons. He proved to be a dynamic and reliable wing, first for the Rockets and then the Dallas Mavericks. Parsons was often praised for highly proficient three-point shooting (he connected on 41.4% of his three-point attempts in the 2015-16 season). He also battled on-going knee issues, and his right knee underwent multiple procedures. Still, Parsons managed to play in 83% of his teams’ regular-season games from 2011 to 2016. He seemed poised to have a long and successful career.
The peak of Parsons’s NBA career likely occurred in the summer of 2016 when he became a free agent. It was at that time when the Memphis Grizzlies signed Parsons to a max four-year, $94 million guaranteed contract.
The Grizzlies would come to rue the signing. Unfortunately for Parsons—as well as for his Grizzlies teammates and coaches—his health and ability entered a downward spiral.
To that point, Parsons missed large segments of the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with various injuries, including continued problems with his right knee and a torn meniscus in his left knee. Parsons appeared in only 95 regular-season games during that time, meaning he missed 61% of Grizzlies games. When available to play, Parsons also didn’t play particularly well. Both his field goal and three-point percentages plummeted. He struggled in other aspects of the game, too.
The Grizzlies traded Parsons last July to the Hawks in a deal for two other under-performing players, Solomon Hill and Miles Plumlee. The move created an additional $200,000 in salary cap space for the Hawks. They gave up a combined $25.3 million in salary for Parsons, who is being paid $25.1 million in the final season of his four-year deal. The trade also freed up a roster spot for the Hawks. In other words, the Hawks made the deal more for cap and roster reasons than for Parsons.
Parsons has played sparingly with the Hawks, who currently possess the NBA’s second-worst record (10-33). He has accumulated a total of just 54 minutes over five games, shooting a horrid 28% from the field. His latest injuries probably mean his season is over.
Legal and contract reasons for Parsons to ensure that blame falls exclusively onto the drunk driver
There are a number of reasons why it’s important for Parsons to establish that he is the victim of an unlawful act.
First, Parsons wants to prevent the possibility that he is deemed in any way at fault for the accident and subsequent injuries. Keep in mind, an accident involving three cars sometimes leads to a finding that multiple drivers were at fault. Such a possibility seems unlikely here. Law enforcement declined to cite Parsons. Also, the person found to be at fault was driving drunk. Still, if anyone else was injured in the accident, Parsons—who has earned over $100 million in his NBA career—could become a target for blame. The fact that law enforcement did not blame Parsons doesn’t automatically guarantee a jury would reach the same conclusion in a civil case.
With that in mind, Parsons has the final months of a lucrative NBA contract to protect. Paragraph 12 of the uniform player contract notes that an NBA player must refrain from “activities [that] may impair or destroy his ability and skill as a basketball player.” Players who disregard that warning and suffer substantial injuries can become at risk of losing their contracts. A finding of reckless driving by an NBA player could count as a dangerous activity. Again, this concern doesn’t appear to be relevant to Parsons given what is known about the accident. His inability to play for the remainder of the season shouldn’t trigger adverse contractual consequences.
Besides, the National Basketball Players’ Association would vigorously fight any attempt by a team to void a player’s guaranteed contract. To the extent teams have been able to exit a deal, the circumstances have been exceptional. They have also led to contract buyouts rather than contract terminations.
In 2004, for example, the Chicago Bulls and point guard Jay Williams negotiated a buyout after he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident (riding a motorcycle is prohibited under paragraph 12). Williams was reportedly paid $3 million of a deal that had $7.7 million remaining. That same year, the Boston Celtics agreed to pay Vin Baker $16 million of the $35 million remaining on his contract. Baker had struggled with alcohol issues and failed to report to practices. More recently, in 2015, Larry Sanders and the Milwaukee Bucks negotiated a settlement whereby the team agreed to pay him $22 million on a deal that had $44 million remaining. Sanders wished to step aside from his NBA career as he dealt with anxiety and other health issues. Neither Parsons nor his representatives want to provide any plausible opening for the Hawks to seek to terminate a contract that still owes him millions of dollars.
Second, Parsons wants to prevent any companies with which he has signed endorsement deals from using his situation to his detriment. During his NBA career, Parsons has signed endorsements with Nike and the Chinese brand Anta, among other companies. Any brands that currently pay Parsons for his sponsorship might be displeased with his disappointing play and general unavailability in recent seasons. Endorsement deals with established brands usually contain “morals clauses.” These clauses allow the endorsed company to terminate or suspend the contract if the player engages in controversial conduct. Parsons’s attorneys establishing that their client is a victim ensures that no such clause could be invoked.
Third, Parsons may have at some point purchased permanent total disability insurance policy (the Hawks might have obtained a similar insurance policy on Parsons’s contract). This type of insurance contemplates a player suffering a career-ending injury. Should the injury manifest, the player is paid a lump sum of money. These policies sometimes contain language that limits or denies payment when the policyholder is responsible for his or her own injuries through misconduct.
As described by his attorneys, the injuries that befell Parsons could end his career. A herniated disc, for example, can lead to long-term or permanent nerve damage felt in one’s arms, hands, legs or feet. If Parsons has purchased an insurance policy, he would need to submit to medical evaluations to assess the severity of his injuries and the validity of his claim.
Fourth, Parsons could sue the DUI driver for millions of dollars. Parsons could demand compensation for pain and suffering. He could also seek compensation for lost career opportunities that might have occurred after his contract expires at the end of the season. His ability to prove the severity of his injuries would be important. Attorneys for the DUI driver would attempt to downplay them and possibly highlight that Parsons declined to be transported to a hospital after the accident.
If a lawsuit ever went to trial, the value of Parsons’s future opportunities would invite conflicting expert testimony. Experts would likely include former team executives and agents paid to offer competing accounts of Parsons's basketball future.
On one hand, it’s possible that even if the crash hadn’t occurred, Parsons's NBA career would be over once his contract runs out this summer. As detailed above, Parsons has encountered a number of knee injuries in recent years. When healthy enough to play, Parsons hasn’t played well. To that point, it’s not a plus for Parsons’s attorneys that their client has played only 54 minutes for the NBA’s second-worst team this season.
Parsons is also 31 and he’ll turn 32 in October. Competition for NBA roster spots doesn’t get easier as players age. Each year a new set of talented and young players enter the pool of players competing for a finite number of spots with NBA teams. Meanwhile, players in their early-to-mid-30s often lose a bit of the athleticism that made them effective during their 20s.
On the other hand, some players rebound from injuries—particularly when their contracts are up. Had he not been injured in the car crash, perhaps Parsons would have dedicated himself over the summer to getting healthy. Also, even if his NBA career would have been over, he presumably could have still earned substantial income playing overseas, including in China or Europe. His attorneys would provide testimony and empirical data to that effect.
The ability of Parsons to establish that the DUI driver owes him millions of dollars and the ability of Parsons to collect any damages are two very different topics. While we don’t know much about the driver (other than that he appears to be completely irresponsible), most people don’t have millions of dollars saved and most don’t own homes worth millions of dollars they could sell to pay a seven- or eight-figure judgment. If the driver doesn’t have the money to pay Parsons, and if he doesn’t earn it in the years ahead, Parsons wouldn’t be able to collect money owed to him.
The driver’s automobile liability insurance is also not known. Georgia law requires that drivers carry auto insurance, with minimum limits of bodily injury liability of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per occurrence. Perhaps this driver has purchased enough insurance that his insurer would pay Parsons several hundred thousand dollars. Even then, the payout would not pay Parsons the value of the minimum NBA salary for a player of his experience ($2.3 million).
Michael McCannis SI’s Legal Analyst. He is also an attorney and the Director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law.
Portland (18-26) is three games behind Memphis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, but also must overtake Phoenix and San Antonio in the process. The Trail Blazers have dropped 10 of 14 since a season-best four-game winning streak from Dec. 16-21 and are coming off back-to-back losses following a 119-106 setback at Oklahoma City on Saturday night.
Lillard scored 34 points despite an upper respiratory illness and Gary Trent Jr. provided a career-high 30 off the bench to make up for the absence of an injured CJ McCollum. However, Portland struggled defensively on the interior as the Thunder carved them up for 64 points in the paint.
The Blazers just completed a five-player trade with Sacramento on Sunday in which the they shipped Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver to the Kings in exchange for Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan.
The deal shaved $12.5 million off Portland's team salary, with Bazemore making $19.3 million in 2019-20, but averaging just 7.9 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Lillard enjoys facing the Warriors and has averaged 27.7 points in 26 career games vs. Golden State, but has averaged 32.7 in the last nine. The four-time All-Star has topped 30 points in both meetings against the Warriors this season and totaled 31 points and a season high-tying 13 assists in the most recent December matchup.
Injuries have derailed Golden State (10-34), and the reigning five-time Western Conference champion enters this contest with the worst record in the NBA. The Warriors, though, are seeking back-to-back wins after knocking off Orlando 109-95 on Saturday night behind 26 points from D'Angelo Harrison and 21 off the bench by rookie Jordan Poole. Golden State has won back-to-back games on only one other occasion, its four-game winning streak from Dec. 20-27.
Fellow rookie Eric Paschall continued his impressive season with 20 points. The second round pick is averaging 13.8 points, while coach Steve Kerr works with a team missing injured All-Stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and do-everything swingman Draymond Green.
The former Falcons running back tallied six carries for 21 yards before exiting the game. He walked off the field with his arm being held by San Francisco trainers.
San Francisco's run game has dominated the Packers even without Coleman on Sunday. Raheem Mostert scored a pair of touchdowns in the first half, crossing the 100-yard mark with a 34-yard scamper into Green Bay territory.
"I learned one thing since I've been here," Kelce told CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz. "You've gotta fight, for your right, to party!"
Kelce and the Chiefs' offense certainly earned their right to party on Sunday as they advanced to Super Bowl LIV. Kelce caught three of Patrick Mahomes' 23 completions at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, and Mahomes finished the afternoon with 294 passing yards and three touchdowns. Mahomes also added a 27-yard touchdown run to close the first half.
Kansas City snapped a 50-year Super Bowl drought on Sunday. The Chiefs last appeared in the Super Bowl in 1970, defeating the Vikings in Super Bowl IV.
Kelce is in his seventh year with the Chiefs. He has tallied over 1,000 receiving yards in four straight seasons.
