Report: Reeves Nelson to sue SI

Former UCLA basketball player Reeves Nelson plans to sue Sports Illustrated (SI) over an article that described him as being physically violent at team practices and claimed he urinated on a teammate's bed. Nelson, who was dismissed from the team in December for disciplinary reasons, will file the defamation lawsuit against the magazine Wednesday, seeking $10 million in damages, according to TMZ.com. The article -- published in March -- painted Bruins head coach Ben Howland as having lost control of the program in recent years, but singled out Nelson for persistent bad behavior, including allegations of rough play during practices that left some of his teammates injured. The article also claimed Nelson urinated on former Bruins forward Tyler Honeycutt's "bed and clothes" after suspecting he had told coaching staff about players' plans to go out partying. The lawsuit reportedly claims as many as 18 current and former UCLA players have denied the allegations, including Honeycutt, who said, "Nelson did not pile my clothes on my bed, and he certainly did not urinate on my clothes," according to TMZ. The lawsuit claims SI writer George Dohrmann "recklessly and negligently failed to investigate the claims in the article." Nelson's attorney, Keith Fink, said in March he would pursue the defamation lawsuit if he believed the article hurt his client's chances of making it to the NBA. The 6-foot-8 forward is planning to enter June's NBA Draft. Dohrmann wrote that he spoke with Nelson, who "confirmed all these incidents to SI and expressed his regret." But Fink said in March that Dohrmann misrepresented that statement, arguing Nelson never admitted to assaulting teammates. Nelson, who led UCLA in scoring and rebounding as a sophomore in 2010-11, averaging 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, signed a deal to play in Lithuania after he was ousted from UCLA.