Witness says NBA’s Payton lured into Toronto fight

By Frank Pingue

TORONTO (Reuters) – Basketball star Gary Payton, charged
with assault after an altercation outside a downtown Toronto
strip club, was lured into the fight by the husband of one of
the club’s strippers, an eyewitness told a court on Friday.

Nicole Stone, who was a stripper at the club when the
incident occurred in April 2003, testified that Payton, who
plays for the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics,
was in the front seat of a taxi parked outside the club when
the argument started.

Stone, the first eyewitness to testify in the trial, said
she was not paying attention to the details of what the two men
were arguing about but did hear Payton say “Do you know who I
am?” as he exited the cab.

“I do not know what taunted Payton, but something was
said,” Stone told the court. “Something must have been said
because Gary Payton jumped out of the cab.”

Payton, Sam Cassell of the Minnesota Timberwolves and free
agent Jason Caffey have pleaded not guilty to assault charges
in connection with an altercation with Adrian Cimpean, his wife
Vida Asante and the club’s security guard, Craig Broda.

Stone said Payton, Cassell and Caffey were well-behaved
inside the club, were Payton paid her $500 for dances. All
three played for the Milwaukee Bucks at the time and were in
town for a game against the Toronto Raptors.

Stone went on to say that Payton had a discussion with some
of the strippers inside the club to see if any would like to
leave with him. Stone told the court she declined the offer and
added that it is not uncommon for strippers to agree to leave
with a customer but later retract.

Outside the club, Stone said she heard Adrian Cimpean, the
man allegedly assaulted by the three basketball players, raise
his voice to Payton and say “They are not going home with you.”

“Everyone was having fun, the night ended, and then it
turned into ‘who’s going home with who’,” said Stone.

When asked by defense lawyer Edward Greenspan if any racial
slurs were made during the altercation, Stone said she was not
paying attention until the fight started.

Earlier in the week, Greenspan suggested to Cimpean, who is
white, that he caused the fight by making racial slurs at
Payton, who is black, and was using the players as his “lottery
ticket.”

The trial will resume in Toronto on Aug. 15.