Remorse, Of Course

By Rick Horowitz

"If I really went after P.J., he'd look a lot worse than he did on TV."

Latrell Sprewell, before his news conference.

"I want to say I'm totally sorry for what happened."

Latrell Sprewell, at his news conference.

OK, if everyone would sit down, I'll get started here. First of all, I want to thank you all for coming. You can feel really alone sometimes when something like this happens, and just looking around the room and up here at the head table, and seeing my teammates and my friends and my 13 lawyers and my agent -- well, it gives me a real warm feeling. So I just want to say thanks to everyone who's stood by me.

Now, the first thing I want to say, and I'm saying this from the bottom of my script, is how sorry I am about what happened between me and Coach. It never should have happened, and I've got no absolutely no excuses for my behavior until my lawyers come up with some.

I've already called Coach, I told him I take full responsibility for what I did the other day, and he said he wanted to let bygones be bygones. At least I think that's what he said -- it was kind of hard to understand him with his jaw wired shut like that. But Coach's wife got on the phone afterwards and she said he had tears in his eyes, so I figure we're OK, although I still want to be traded away from that bunch of losers.

About the details, I really don't want to get into too much of the details. I just want to say that basketball is an emotional game, you've got guys who've devoted their whole lives to it, and sometimes we take things too much to heart, even in practice. I know Coach only thought he was doing his job when he told me I shouldn't be dribbling the ball with my armpit, but how I look at it is, "Who's earning more money? Me or Coach?"

So anyway, when he said that thing about my pit dribble -- and me being the guy who brought that particular move into the league -- when he said that thing and got right up in my face, something just snapped. I think it was his leg.

Looking back, I know I shouldn't have done it, but I also think there's been a lot of overreacting from the league and the media. I think Johnnie Cochran said it pretty well yesterday -- "If it's not his neck, then what the heck." I'm not saying I was right, just that everyone should keep it in perspective, just like they should do with the Land Rover thing.

See, I know people are saying they can maybe understand the first part of the fight, but that it's different when you go away for 10 or 15 minutes and then come back a second time and run Coach over with your Land Rover. Well, what do they expect? It's not like I park the thing on the court -- I got back as soon as I could!

A speeding ticket? Fine. But suspending me like they did, that goes way too far. You show me in the contract where it says anything about not running Coach over in your Land Rover.

Now, I know some people are wondering, was this a racial incident, Coach acting like that? I'm not saying it is or isn't -- that's what my agent is for. All I know is I'm black, and most of my teammates are black and my Land Rover is black, and the commissioner is white and Coach is white and Coach's body cast is white, so draw your own conclusions.

I know for me, I don't see things that way -- I'd have run over any coach who disrespected me, black or white. And when I was setting the dynamite at Coach's house that night, I swear to you, black or white was the last thing on my mind.

But I realize now, and I've been thinking about it ever since my endorsement adviser told me I should be thinking about it, that I have to do a better job controlling my anger. I've already sent flowers to the hospital for Coach and his family, which shows the kind of person I really am.

So that's all I want to say. I just hope everyone will understand that I've worked really hard to get where I am today, and that it wouldn't be fair to make an example of me because of one isolated incident, if you don't count that thing last year with the semiautomatic.

Thanks for coming, and God bless America.

12/16/97