Suit Against Calipari Is Dismissed

A judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a sportswriter against New Jersey Net Coach John Calipari and the Nets’ organization.

Dan Garcia of the Star-Ledger of Newark claimed in his lawsuit that he suffered “extreme humiliation and emotional distress” because Calipari called him “a Mexican idiot” after a team practice in Mahwah, N.J., on March 20.

The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in Paterson in July, accused Calipari of inflicting emotional distress and assault, among other things.

Superior Court Judge Joseph Scancarella granted the team’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed because it did not have any legal merit, said Andrew P. Napolitano, attorney for Calipari and the Nets.

“It was a common sense decision that said the courts are not involved in a private conversation, even if it gets heated,” Napolitano said. “It’s a big victory for John, he felt very strongly about it.”

*

The Nets are considering a move back to Long Island where they played in the 1970s, the Star-Ledger reported.

The NBA team began informal discussions with Nassau County officials more than a year ago to move the team to Nassau Coliseum, while a new arena is built in Uniondale, sources told the paper.

The sources said the Nets have become more interested in the Long Island proposal recently, since New Jersey Devil owner John McMullen announced he would try to move his team from the Continental Airlines Arena to a new arena in Hoboken.

The team, which is negotiating a new lease with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, is concerned about losing bargaining power with the authority because of the Devils’ bid to move, the sources said.

The Nets’ lease at the Meadowlands runs out in 2000. The Devils’ lease extends until 2007, and the authority has said the team cannot get out of the lease before then.