As New York Knicks forward Antonio Davis was suspended for five games by the NBA for climbing into the stands to confront a man during a game in Chicago, that fan said he did nothing wrong and was attacked by Davis' wife.
The altercation came in overtime Wednesday night of the Bulls' 106-104 victory. Davis said he thought his wife was in danger and later released a statement saying the fan was drunk.
"It's a lie," 22-year-old Michael Axelrod said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
Axelrod's attorney, Jay Paul Deratany, said he planned to sue Davis and his wife for more than $1 million. Deratany said he was writing the papers Thursday for a battery suit against Kendra Davis and a slander case against Antonio Davis, and planned to file them Friday.
Deratany also said, "A public apology from the Davises would go a long way toward resolving this."
Axelrod claimed Kendra Davis tried to scratch him after he protested a call. Axelrod, who was sitting a couple of rows behind her, said he never laid a hand on Davis' wife and said he was not drunk.
Axelrod's father, David, is a prominent Democratic political consultant in Chicago who has worked with Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley.
"When I go to games, I cheer as hard as I can for the Bulls, and I boo as hard as I can for whoever they're playing," Michael Axelrod said. "I don't feel comfortable if players are allowed to easily jump into the crowd whenever they feel like it's necessary."