It’s Sorry Situation

In his first public comments since attacking Golden State Coach P.J. Carlesimo and losing his job, Latrell Sprewell said Tuesday he had to learn to control his temper but that his career should not be ruined by one mistake.

“I know this conduct is not acceptable in society and professional sports. I accept responsibility for what I’ve done,” he said during a news conference with five former teammates standing behind him and lawyer Johnnie Cochran and agent Arn Tellem at his side.

Sprewell had called Carlesimo on Sunday to apologize for choking and threatening to kill him during practice Dec. 1. Sprewell said he didn’t want to apologize publicly before talking to Carlesimo privately.

“I am a good person and I’ve never had any situation like this come up before,” the 27-year-old Sprewell said. “I feel 10 years of hard work shouldn’t be taken away for one mistake. My career didn’t happen overnight and I don’t feel it should be taken away overnight.

“I know I will do a better job controlling my temper and watching what I do.”

Sprewell, a three-time all-star guard, was fired by the Warriors last Wednesday, costing him the $25 million he was to be paid over the final three years of his four-year contract. The next day, the NBA suspended him for one year, the longest nondrug suspension in league history.

The players’ union has filed grievances against the NBA and the Warriors, arguing the penalties were excessive. And Sprewell himself said he never got a chance to tell his side of the story, a point the NBA disputes. The case will be heard no sooner than Jan. 4 by arbitrator John Feerick, dean of Fordham Law School.

Houston Rocket forward Charles Barkley said that some players may boycott the NBA All-Star game or the World Championships in Greece if the league doesn’t ease the punishment.

“I think I’d have great support for a boycott,” Barkley said. “I’ve talked with several players about it. . . . If we don’t make a stand, it’s going to be bad.”

The attack not only rippled across the NBA and all of sports but sparked a national debate over sportsmanship, role models and authority figures.

Tellem and Billy Hunter, executive director of the National Basketball Players Assn., said at the news conference that race was not a factor in the attack, although the agent had hinted over the weekend that he thought it may have played a role.

Sprewell, who gave no details of the attack, had said Carlesimo provoked him with verbal abuse. Carlesimo, who has an intense, in-your-face coaching style, has had run-ins with other players and feuded with Rod Strickland while coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Sprewell said his problems had been mounting with Carlesimo, who is in his first season with the Warriors.

“There were times I reached out and tried to rectify the situation here at Golden State,” he said. “No one wanted to hear what I had to say. All I wanted was for the league to hear me out. No one was willing to listen at that time.”

Sprewell also said he felt he had been treated unfairly after the attack.

“I’ve been looked on as a negative person,” said Sprewell, who was advised not to answer reporters’ questions because of the pending arbitration. “I’ve been vilified. Every time I look at a clip it’s always a picture of me looking mad and being aggressive. It was always negative. I felt that was unfair.

“I know going through all this makes me a better person and a better man. Hopefully, nothing like this will happen again. There are lessons to be learned. Hopefully, we can all learn.”

Carlesimo and other Warrior officials declined to comment, also because of the pending arbitration. The NBA issued a statement making two points, that Sprewell was one of 23 people interviewed by league officials and that he never requested a meeting with the league before the suspension.

Witnesses said Sprewell grabbed Carlesimo by the throat and threatened to kill him during practice for a team that began the season 1-13. About 15 minutes later, Sprewell returned to practice and again confronted the coach, who was left with a three-inch red mark on his neck.

Some reports have said Sprewell threw a punch at Carlesimo during that second encounter, and NBA Commissioner David Stern labeled that confrontation a “clearly premeditated assault” while announcing the suspension.

But a source said Tuesday that Sprewell disputes some reports of the second confrontation and that he never intended to assault Carlesimo a second time. “He came out to demand that P.J. trade him,” said the source, who spoke on condition he not be identified.

Tellem said the confrontations should be treated as “one episode.”

“It isn’t like he went home for 24 hours. This was one short time where he lost his cool,” Tellem said. “He shouldn’t have done what he did. That’s it.”

Sprewell was joined by former teammates Muggsy Bogues, Bimbo Coles, Felton Spencer, David Vaughn and Joe Smith, who has been writing “Spree” on the tape around his ankles during games. Laker forward Robert Horry, Sprewell’s teammate at Alabama, also was on hand.