In basketball terms, an NBA referee Monday asked a federal judge to call a technical foul on a sportswriter for bad sportsmanship.
In legal terms, longtime ref Bill Spooner filed a federal lawsuit against the Associated Press and one of its reporters, claiming he was defamed by one of the scribe’s “tweets” during a January game between the Timberwolves and Houston Rockets.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, says that because of the note on Twitter, Spooner’s “professional and business reputation as a working, officiating NBA referee has been, and remains, disparaged.” The ref says the AP and the sportswriter have refused to remove the tweet.
Full story: NBA referee sues AP reporter over tweet at Timberwolves game – TwinCities.com