The Knicks continue to make bigger headlines off the court than on it, as an explosive $5 million lawsuit brought against Eddy Curry by his driver accuses the center of sexual harassment and racial discrimination.
The lawsuit, adding ignominy to a career already addled by injury, accuses Curry of twice approaching his driver in the nude and "asking him to look and to touch him," the driver's lawyer, Matthew Blit told Newsday.
The personal chauffeur David Kuchinsky also alleges that Curry maligned him with racially offensive terms, including "grandmaster of the KKK," "f---ing Jew," "cracker" and "white devil," and pointed a loaded gun at him on two occasions.
"Look, I have one in the chamber," Curry allegedly said while wielding the weapon, according to the New York Post.
But the Knicks center vehemently denies all the charges, saying Kuchinsky has been trying to squeeze money out of him for several months.
"This is absolutely false," Curry, who has two years and $21.7 million remaining on his contract with the Knicks, told Newsday. "It's incredible. I can't even believe it."
"Everyone who knows me knows I'm not a racist. I've never made a comment like that, playing, or nothing," said Curry, who is married with four children, according to the Associated Press. "Aside from the fact I wouldn't do it because I'm not racist, I wouldn't do it because I wouldn't want someone to play with me like that. That's incredible, man."
The charges are tough to take seriously when you consider that the defendant doesn't know how to harass a basketball or an opponent driving the lane. The suspicion grows stronger when the Post reveals the driver has a criminal record that includes years of prison time and probation.
Kuchinsky is seeking $98,000 in unpaid wages and expenses, plus compensatory damages that could go up to $5 million in state court, the former driver's lawyer told the Post and Newsday. Kuchinsky was employed by Curry for three years ending last October.
"I'm shocked, really," said Curry, who missed the Knicks' 101-95 victory at New Orleans on Monday night with right knee soreness. "He approached my friends a while back, trying to get money. I just never, ever thought it would go past what it did, which was just idle threats, money-or-else kind of stuff."
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"This is a guy who I really thought he was my friend up until the last four, five months. I can't even believe this happened... I can't believe it went this far. I can't believe someone would represent something like that."
The lawsuit comes a little more than a year after former Knicks team president and coach Isiah Thomas was found by a jury to have sexually harassed former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders. MSG, the company that owns the Knicks, was ordered to pay $11.6 million in damages.
Of course, this is the sort of fodder that keeps tabloid newspapers and blogs in business, so expect more jokes and one-liners even if the charges are quickly dismissed.
And for Eddy Curry and the Knicks, it's safe to say this may be the last layer of tasteless icing on their wedding cake. Both parties surely can't wait for this era to be a distant memory.
