28 years ago today, in one of the most consequential labor rulings in modern NBA discipline, arbitrator John Feerick upheld the league’s season-long suspension of Latrell Sprewell stemming from the infamous 1997 practice incident with Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo, while simultaneously rejecting Golden State’s attempt to erase Sprewell’s contract entirely.
Feerick’s decision backed the NBA’s core punishment: Sprewell would be suspended without pay for the remainder of the 1997–98 season, a financial hit that amounted to $6.4 million. In the ruling, Feerick found that the league’s investigation was “done in good faith and was fair and adequate,” and that the NBA complied with “the standards of industrial due process.”
Where Feerick drew a line was on the suspension’s spillover into the following year. He reduced the discipline to the extent it included roughly one month of the 1998–99 season, trimming the NBA’s original timeline.
Most importantly for Sprewell’s future, Feerick reinstated his Warriors contract for 1998–99 and 1999–2000, ruling that stacking a full-season suspension on top of contract termination was excessive under the circumstances. Contemporary coverage noted that voiding the deal would have cost Sprewell tens of millions in remaining salary, and Feerick concluded that the combination of penalties went too far.
The ruling effectively split the difference: the NBA’s harshest message on violent conduct was preserved, but the team’s attempt at a career-altering financial punishment was rolled back. Nearly three decades later, it remains a landmark example of how NBA discipline can be upheld on the merits while still being constrained by the league’s labor and due-process standards.
