Would-Be-Agent Sues M. Camby
A would-be sports agent who claims he was supposed to represent Marcus Camby is suing him after spending $40,000 on gifts on the player.
John Lounsbury filed his breach-of-contract lawsuit last month against Camby, now with the New York Knicks, and his agents, ProServ of Washington.
Lounsbury says Camby demanded money and gifts, including rental cars and jewelry, between October 1994 and April 1996 in exchange for a promise that Lounsbury would be Camby's agent once he turned pro after leaving the University of Massachusetts.
"I believe too much emphasis has been placed on the wrongdoing of agents and not enough attention has been paid to the irresponsibility and greed of these professional athletes," Lounsbury's lawyer, John Williams, said today.
Damages will be determined by a jury if the suit goes to trial.
Camby was the No. 2 pick in the 1996 NBA draft. He was chosen by Toronto and traded to New York before this season.
In June 1996, UMass alerted the NCAA that Camby might have committed violations by accepting cash and expensive jewelry from agents, including Lounsbury.
Camby said he accepted thousands of dollars from Lounsbury in 1995 and two necklaces and a diamond pendant from Wesley Spears, a Hartford lawyer.
UMass was stripped of its 1996 NCAA regional championship and was forced to return the money it earned by making it to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament.
In December 1997, Lounsbury agreed not to act as a sports agent for five years. That agreement with the state Department of Consumer Protection stemmed from his purchase of airline tickets for two University of Connecticut players, Ricky Moore and Kirk King.
Former Connecticut star Ray Allen, now with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, also has admitted receiving gifts from Lounsbury.
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