Basketball and many other professional sports expose players to a life of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, the life of luxury isn't without its drawbacks. These players need to live their entire lives walking on eggshells. They make one wrong move and risk public humiliation, a career fall, and a lawsuit. Our focus in this article is on lawsuits. What common lawsuits do basketballers face, and which renowned players have the highest number of lawsuits under their belts? Let's find out.

Professional Basketballer With The Highest Number Of Lawsuits 

According to experienced lawyers like Adante Pointer, the industry's most common types of lawsuits are personal injury claims, contract dispute lawsuits, intellectual property disputes, and endorsement deal lawsuits. In some cases, renowned players have also been sued for harassment and assault. This is why players always need strong legal teams to back them and offer swift resolution to legal troubles. Here are some players who have had their fair share of lawsuits throughout the course of their careers.

Dennis Rodman

Dennis Rodman has had a lucrative career as a power forward in the basketball industry since he launched his career. However, he is also one of the most controversial figures in the sport, considering the fact that he has been sued seven times in twelve years. These cases were all due to one form of sexual harassment or another, and five out of the seven cases were sealed. He didn't face criminal charges because these were civil suits and he was forced to pay out compensations to his victims.

Latrell Sprewell

Latrell Sprewell was a shooting guard for many years, thanks to his remarkable skills. During his career, he got slammed with lawsuits on multiple occasions. At one point, he was sued by his partner, while in another case, the bank foreclosed on his yacht because he defaulted on his payments. However, the most notable case he was involved in was a dispute with the NBA and Golden State Warriors. In this case, Sprewell filed a lawsuit against both organizations after he was punished for attacking the Warriors head coach.

Allen Iverson 

Iverson had a long and prosperous career in the NBA, but we can't discuss his history without mentioning some controversial moments. One such moment was when Jamil Blackmon sued him over his nickname "The Answer." According to Blackmon, Iverson promised 25% of the proceeds from every merchandise sold with that nickname. However, Blackmon lost the lawsuit because he could not prove the agreement's authenticity. Iverson was also sued over a bar fight that led to a $260,000 settlement. He had financially rough times but would later rebuild his fortune. 

Ron Artest 

Ron Artest, now known as Metta Sandiford-Artest, is an NBA small forward who launched his career in 1999. In 2019, Metta was sued by Dakdouk, a man Metta's wife had a head-on vehicle collision with that same year. Dakdouk wanted a payout but later dropped the lawsuit. Besides this lawsuit, Metta has also faced a few challenges in the NBA. During the 2004-2005 season, he was suspended by the NBA after fighting with a fan in the middle of a game. The case was taken to court, and he paid for his recklessness. 

Conclusion

These are just a few of the many basketballers who were dragged to court or dragged others to court. In some cases, it caused damage to their reputation, while in other cases, the fallout was minimal.

Based on Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Webber, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Dennis Rodman.

Please note that this does not reflect the last five Power Forward inducted but rather the previous five peak runs of that particular player.  Also, we are going with what each player predominantly played.  For some positions, we see very different players who bring unique skill sets, and just like at Center, that is very much the case for Power Forwards.

The five Power Forwards we are using as the baseline are:

Dirk Nowitzki.  Class of 2023 & Peak Period 2004-05 to 2010-11:  A career Dallas Maverick, Nowitzki also played some time at Center, but he was a Power Forward more often, especially in his peak period. 

Chris Webber.  Class of 2021 & Peak Period 1996-97 to 2002-03:  Webber played most of his career at Power Forward, though he occasionally lined up at Center.

Tim Duncan.  Class of 2020 & Peak Period 1999-2000 to 2005-06:  Duncan was the hardest to classify.  “Big Fundamental” arguably played more at Center throughout his career, but in his Peak Period, he was more of a Power Forward, hence why he is listed here and not at the five.

Kevin Garnett.  Class of 2020 & Peak Period 1999-2000 to 2005-06:  Garnett played mostly at Power Forward but, late in his career, was more a Center, and early in it, saw some time at Small Forward.

Dennis Rodman.  Class of 2011 & Peak Period 1988-89 to 1994-95: Rodman is a fascinating name on this as not only did he play a significant part of his career as a Small Forward (including his peak period), but he was not a prolific scorer but a far more adept rebounder than the four other legends in his peer group.  There will be a significant change in the statistical bar when he is removed from these five (and he will be the first to be removed once the next Power Forward is inducted).

Peak Period is the best seven consecutive seasons by a player.*All-NBA have weighted points.  3 for the First Team, 2 for the Second Team, and 1 for the Third Team.

MVP and Defensive Player of the Year have weighted points.  10 for 1^st Place, 9 for 2^nd Place, 8 for 3^rd Place, 7 for 4^th Place, 6 for 5^th Place, 5 for 6^th Place, 4 for 7^th Place, 3 for 8^th Place, 2 for 9^th Place and 1 for 10^th Place.

All-Defensive have weighted points.  2 for the First Team, 1 for the Second Team.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is important to us that the

Chicago Bulls have announced the creation of their Ring of Honor, which will initially house 13 members and one team.

They will be celebrating this over the weekend of January 11-12.

Named to the Chicago Bulls’ Ring of Honor will be:

Artis Gilmore, Center, 1977-82 & 1988.  Gilmore went to four All-Stars as a Bull, leading the NBA in Effective Field Goal Percentage twice.  He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Phil Jackson, Assistant Coach, 1988-89 & Head Coach 1990-98.  “The Zen Master” guided Chicago to all six of their titles, and had a record of 545 and 193 with the Bulls.

Michael Jordan, Guard, 1985-93 & 1995-98.  The greatest player of all time was a six-time Champion and entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.  He was a 14-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA player, 10-time Scoring Champion and five-time MVP.  Jordan was also named to the 75^th Anniversary Team, and was a six-time Finals MVP.

Johnny “Red” Kerr, Head Coach 1967-68, Broadcaster 1975-08.  Kerr was the voice of the Bulls for decades and became synonymous with the team despite starring as a player for years with Syracuse/Philadelphia.

Dick Klein, General Manager, 1967-69.  Klein was also the team’s founder.

Jerry Krause, General Manager 1985-03.  Krause presided over all six of Chicago’s championships and was arguably its architect. 

Toni Kukoc, Forward, 1994-00.  Kukoc helped Chicago win three titles and won a Sixth Man of the Year Award.  He entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

Bob Love, Forward, 1969-77.  Love went to three All-Star Games, and was twice a Second Team All-Star.

Scottie Pippen, Forward, 1988-98 & 2004.  Pippen was Robin to Jordan’s Batman in those six titles and was a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, and eight-time All-Defensive Selection.  Pippen became a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 2010.

Dennis Rodman, Forward, 1996-98.  Rodman helped anchor Chicago to their second three-peat and was a three-time Rebounding Champion as a Bull.  He was chosen for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Jerry Sloan, Guard/Forward, 1967-76, Assistant Coach 1978, Head Coach 1980-82.  Sloan was a two-time All-Star and six-time All-Defensive Selection as a player and he entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 as a Coach.

Chet Walker, Forward, 1970-75.  Walker played the second half of his career with the Bulls where he had four of his seven All-Star.  He entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Tex Winter, Assistant Coach, 1986-99.  Winter was an Assistant Coach for all six of Chicago’s championships.

The 1996 Championship Team.  This squad went 72-10 and won the organization’s fourth title.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com are thrilled with the Chicago Bulls pursuit of honoring their past legends.

On every best-of list for a team, there is one that is one player that seems impossible to rank.  For the Chicago Bulls, that is Dennis Rodman, who we have rated lower than most other publications have, though statistically, we can actually justify placing him five spots lower.

While we are not sure if any petition from Change.org has ever worked, it is of interest to us that there is one to try and remove a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

The non-profit Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation has started a petition to remove Dennis Rodman from the Hall following his praise and defense of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, who now has American blood on his hands”.  This is in reference to Otto Warmbier, who was held captive by North Korea for seventeen months and was returned in a coma.  He died on Monday.

To date, Rodman has made five visits to the isolated nation and has cited Kim Jong-un as a friend.  The group seeking Rodman’s removal from the Hall is citing the Halls rule that “a candidate may be removed if he or she has damaged the game of basketball.”

While Rodman has always been known to be a little eccentric it is unlikely that this action will result in his expulsion from Springfield.

Those who saw him perform in the ring will never say they saw a talented in ring performer, but when Dennis Rodman competed for WCW he did so at a time when he was among the most known Basketball players in the world.  His association with the New World Order angle brought more mainstream attention to wrestling and helped to spike the buy rate of a major Pay Per View.