The Western Conference Finals between top seeds the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs might have figuratively ended in the fourth quarter of Game 1, when Kawhi Leonard’s ankle came down on Zaza Pachulia’s foot, in a play that has been dissected by sports media for the last few days. While Pachulia’s Warriors teammates have all come to his defense, some, including Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, are calling it a dirty play that deserves punishment. One of those on the side demanding retribution is Texas native Juan Vasquez, who has taken the unusual and extreme step of suing both the Warriors and Pachulia himself for injuring the Spurs star player.
Vasquez is arguing that, by injuring Leonard, Pachulia caused him financial harm as a Spurs season-ticket holder, one who “expects that members of the team he supports will not be targeted for injury,” as quoted in the lawsuit filing, which you should read in its absurd entirety. As part of his case, he quotes Popovich’s interview on May 15, wherein the Spurs coach bluntly states that a “two-step, lead-with-your-foot close-out is not appropriate. It’s dangerous. It’s unsportsmanlike. It’s just not what anybody does to anybody else.”
Vasquez and his co-plaintiff, Who’s On Second–a sports memorabilia store in San Antonio–are asking for damages up to $73,000, which they state is an estimate of the combined losses for both plaintiffs but also, quite ridiculously, 73 is the “sum of the jersey numbers for Spurs legends David Robinson (51), Tim Duncan (21), and that of injured current star Kawhi Leonard (2).”
Needless to say, this is a rash step that puts Vasquez in the lead for “pettiest fan of 2017.” Neither the Warriors nor the Spurs have not commented on Vasquez’s lawsuit, and you can’t really expect them to take time out of their preparation for Saturday’s Game 3 to address what seems like a joke, but is actually a real lawsuit that real people are trying to bring to court. Only in America.