A Miami Beach entertainment agency that dreamed of representing NBA star Kevin Garnett is suing a prominent sports agent, claiming the agent plotted to ruin the company's plans.
Creation Management says New York sports agent Eric Fleisher launched a smear campaign against the South Beach firm after it hired Fleisher's 20-something protege, Andrew Miller. Fleisher sued Miller in 1999 for stealing his clients, including Garnett, the star Minnesota Timberwolves forward. Fleisher accused Miller of offering players an enticing signing bonus: "romantic liaisons" with models working for an agency partly owned by Creation Management.

The allegation caused a stir in the national press, which seized on the dispute between Fleisher and Miller as a reflection of the increasingly bitter competition among agents desperate to pander their way into a star athlete's good graces and seven-figure salary.

Now, Creation Management owners Brad Krassner and Robert Kreusler claim the publicity ruined their plan to move from producers of David Copperfield magic shows to representing celebrities of all sorts -- including the NBA stars Miller could bring.