Former UCLA basketball player Reeves Nelson’s defamation lawsuit against Time Inc., Sports Illustrated’s parent company, and senior writer George Dohrmann, was thrown out by a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge on Wednesday, according to a release from SI.
Nelson’s lawsuit stemmed from an article written by Dorhmann and published by SI, titled “Not the UCLA Way,” which was critical of UCLA men’s basketball coach Ben Howland’s program and included accounts of Nelson’s alleged wrongdoings that led to his later dismissal from the team.
According to the release, the lengthy ruling from the judge cited “evidence of Dohrmann’s reliance on numerous sources” as well as other extensive work and research done by the writer for the article.
Published March 5, 2012, the article included stories about Nelson intentionally injuring teammates during practice. The story also claims that Nelson “piled (former teammate Tyler) Honeycutt’s clothes on Honeycutt’s bed, and then urinated on the clothes and flipped the bed over.”
Nelson, currently playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, was dismissed from the UCLA men’s basketball team on Dec. 9, 2011. He filed suit for damages in excess of $10 million to L.A. County Superior Court on Wed., May 23.
Compiled by Tyler Drohan, Bruin Sports senior staff.