NBA assistant coach sues Vegas casino over brawl
The NBA’s Charles Oakley contends his celebrity status has nothing to do with his not getting arrested after a poolside brawl at a Strip casino last year.
Oakley is suing the Aria and its security guards because, he alleges, the guards beat him after he tried to enter a VIP 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 didn’t commit a crime.
Oakley, 47, an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats, has said 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 hotel officials have widely differing accounts of how a May 2010 afternoon by the pool turned violent.
Oakley said he was at the pool with a group of friends and business associates when he briefly left. When he tried to return to the group, he said, Aria’s security guards stopped him, prompting an argument between 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 that the guards 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 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 say Oakley threw a bystander’s $2,500 camera in the pool because he didn’t want the man to take his picture.
The fight continued inside the hotel when Oakley refused to discuss the incident with Aria staffers, the employees said. 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 basketball fouls and scuffles off the court. It alleges that Oakley consumed several alcoholic cocktails by the pool with his friends, including Boston Celtics player Jermaine O’Neal.
Oakley wants to portray himself as a victim, the resort’s lawyers say.
“When, in reality, he was the vicious aggressor who provoked the incidents at issue,” the counterclaim said.
The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Oakley was a power forward for Chicago, New York, Toronto, Washington and Houston from 1985 to 2004. He earned a reputation as one of the NBA’s all-time tough guys during his playing career.
Oakley once was suspended for his role in a brawl involving Shaquille O’Neal and later for throwing a basketball at Tyrone Hill’s head during a long-running dispute over a gambling debt.
