Former UCLA Star Reeves Nelson Suing Sports Illustrated For Saying He Peed On Teammate's Clothes

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In 1975, legendary coach John Wooden retired from his job at UCLA having won an incredible ten titles including seven in a row between ’67 and ’73. Unfortunately, all the men who came after have struggled and ultimately failed to match his accomplishments, and the team has only won a single title in the almost forty years since. In 2003, former Pittsburgh coach Ben Howland was hired, and for a short time, it seemed like he was on his way to restoring the team’s good name. The Bruins made the Final Four in three consecutive seasons between ’06 and ’08, but the last few years have been marred by underachievement and rumors of player misbehavior.

Those whispers culminated earlier this year with the release of a Sports Illustrated article that accused Howland of losing control, the players of taking drugs and former UCLA star Reeves Nelson of doing a string of horrible things including intentionally injuring players during practice and pissing on one of his teammate’s clothes as revenge for squealing about a party. The story was an embarrassment for the school, and now, it’s turned into a lawsuit.

According to TMZ, Nelson, who was thrown off the team last season for numerous disciplinary violations, has hired a lawyer and will seek ten million dollars from Sports Illustrated for printing the accusations. The twenty-year-old claims he never peed on anyone’s possessions, and he’s gotten statements from eighteen current and former UCLA players to back him up.

As for why the article’s writer, George Dohrmann, would write untruths, Nelson alleges he has a longstanding vendetta against UCLA dating back to when he falsely accused guard Baron Davis of obtaining a car illegally some years ago. Of the eighteen players who have come out in Nelson’s defense, sixteen reportedly say they weren’t contacted for the article, and the two who were claim they denied the pissing thing happened.

Regardless of who might win the lawsuit, the last few years have been a disaster for UCLA. Here’s to hoping the once proud team can turn it around.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.