Patrick Ewing

[bleedspeed]

I didn't know Patrick Ewing was on the coaching staff. (aka Rick Brunson)

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/rick-brunson-sexual-assault-temple-university-jalen-brunson-commit-patrick-ewing/14bryqtmkc8di1he7zdnlbuz1e


Former NBA player Rick Brunson was charged with aggravated battery and attempted sexual assault after an April 12 incident with a female masseuse at a Vernon Hills, Ill., fitness center, police say.

Brunson was arrested June 25 in connection with the incident, but a police report obtained by the Chicago Tribune detailed that he had a tenuous relationship with the masseuse prior to that date.

Between 2010 and 2013, he had booked between 10 and 20 massages with the unidentified masseuse before she eventually informed him she would no longer massage him due to an undisclosed incident.


On April 2, 2014, Brunson made an appointment with the masseuse under the name "Patrick Ewing."

When the masseuse walked into the room, she found Brunson -- not Ewing -- unclothed.

"Brunson admitted to her that he booked the massage under a different name. ... (She) believed he used a fake name to book the massage because she had told him in 2013 that she would not massage him anymore. (She) reluctantly agreed to massage him since he was already there," the report says.

After the alleged victim made a formal complaint to the club's manager, the club rescinded Brunson's membership, effective April 9.

That same day, the woman alleges, Brunson attempted to contact her multiple times via text messages and phone calls.

She sought a protective order on April 15, writing that she was "afraid of (him)" and "just want(ed) him to leave me alone."

"I have asked him before to leave me alone and I don't think he hears what I'm saying," she said in the report.

The center's parent company, Life Time Fitness, Inc., is launching an internal investigation into the allegations and plans to cooperate with local authorities in their investigation, according to Jason Thunstrom, the company's vice president.

Brunson, a Temple University graduate, spent nine seasons in the NBA before retiring from playing in 2006.

He recently was linked to an open assistant coaching position at his alma mater.

His son, Jalen, is ESPN's top-ranked point guard in the class of 2015 out of Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.

[bleedspeed]

I posted this due to a former co-worker of my having issues with him this summer at the Starbucks near the Target Center. He and another Timberwolves employee tried to corner her wouldn't leave her alone. She was luckily with another co-worker and since that day her office has banned her from going to Starbucks. Not that she would anyway just because of the aggressiveness of the incident. I figured this needs to be shared since this is not the type of organization I can see supporting in the near term and honestly since Flip passed there has been very little to get excited or cheer about.

Probably not the right place to post this, but I have debated a few reactions and honestly, have a moral dilemma of not saying anything. Any thoughts on the subject?

[Monster]

It's good to know the context of the post now.

A few thoughts (from just a regular dude) just based on the information that you gave:

So your co-worker was sexually harassed and the response from your company was "Don't go to that Starbucks again"? I don't know what your co-worker wanted to happen but I would guess she would have liked more support than that. She basically got punished by not being able to go to a Starbucks because she was sexually harassed. That's despicable.

I don't know what level of relationship you have with this co-worker how well you know the people involved in the incident so I'm wondering how thy feel or felt about the incident and what they would like to do or have happen about it. Maybe they don't want to do anything at this point. If they have some desire to pursue something with this there is probably some advocacy group to contact.

This story seems to be another example of why stuff like this happens all the time basically unchecked. Credit to you Bleed for actually considering saying something or doing something.

Based on what happened before it seems hard to give Brunson the benefit of the doubt even though supposedly he was mostly absolved from the previous incident and admitted to just being unfaithful and everything was consensual.

I'd be interested to hear any updates about this situation.

[bleedspeed]

I am not sure you can call it sexual harassment. Definitely harassed since because Rick started stalking her and then being a creeper and then finally being over aggressive asking for her number/where she worked and not leaving her alone when she said "no" during the incident. My initial response was "Don't make small talk with strangers while waiting for a coffee." Since she just has refused to go back to Starbucks it kind of became forgotten. I don't work at the company and it is a smaller firm and happened off grounds so not sure what the policy would be. She didn't bring it up with HR and everyone in the office knows about it and avoiding Starbucks has stopped the problem. Then she was watching a game on TV and saw him looked up his history. Then it became a lot more of a concern.

Personally, I don't have a lot of skin in the game other than voting with my wallet and boycotting Timberwolves/Lynx games. Out of all the losing I have supported the team, but this is something
that has broken me from having interest in the team.

[Monster]

I am not sure you can call it sexual harassment. Definitely harassed since because Rick started stalking her and then being a creeper and then finally being over aggressive asking for her number/where she worked and not leaving her alone when she said "no" during the incident. My initial response was "Don't make small talk with strangers while waiting for a coffee." Since she just has refused to go back to Starbucks it kind of became forgotten. I don't work at the company and it is a smaller firm and happened off grounds so not sure what the policy would be. She didn't bring it up with HR and everyone in the office knows about it and avoiding Starbucks has stopped the problem. Then she was watching a game on TV and saw him looked up his history. Then it became a lot more of a concern.

Personally, I don't have a lot of skin in the game other than voting with my wallet and boycotting Timberwolves/Lynx games. Out of all the losing I have supported the team, but this is something
that has broken me from having interest in the team.

You can vote using your wallet but at this point they would have zero reason to know why you weren't spending your money.

What you describe is harassment of some kind. It was clearly unwanted.

It would be interesting to hear if any Starbucks employees at that location have noticed multiple incidents of this.

So recently she figured out this wasn't just a couple of random weird dudes but a couple Wolves employees and now that she is aware he has a history that makes her more interested in doing something or are others more concerned? Both? Is she certain that it was Brunson?

[bleedspeed]

It was known from the start that Rick and his friend and partner in crime worked for the Wolves, just figured it was a couple of marketing pawns. It changed knowing a name and history makes me more concerned for sure not for her but that this guy obviously has issues. She was at the point she dealt with it and it was behind her, but having a name brought it back into focus.

Do I contact the Wolves? What do I say?

[Monster]

It was known from the start that Rick and his friend and partner in crime worked for the Wolves, just figured it was a couple of marketing pawns. It changed knowing a name and history makes me more concerned for sure not for her but that this guy obviously has issues. She was at the point she dealt with it and it was behind her, but having a name brought it back into focus.

Do I contact the Wolves? What do I say?

It would probably be helpful if you had some idea of who in the Wolves organization you should contact.

It would also probably be helpful if you could talk to someone you trust that may have some sort of expertise that would help giving you some insight.

I'll just say a few things in my life the last few years have made me more likely to advocate for others than I would before. Some of that is just more knowledge now of what to do and of course a lot of it is having more experience with more situations that are presented to me than when I grew up in my little small town and relatively small circle much of my life. When I think about it I still don't do it enough.

[bleedspeed]

Well this issue popped up again. He is now harassing her co-workers that she used to go to coffee with ask where she is. This is almost 6 months later.

My daughters asked me about going to a game this year. I told them about the situation and that my I can't support an organization knowing like this.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Whoa. Missed this the first time it was posted...

It's actually a timely discussion considering everything going on right now with the #metoo movement and whatnot.

Considering his history... and the environment... perhaps something as simple as an anonymous note to somebody within the Wolves organization. If the dude's a creeper, there's a very good chance that your coworker and the masseuse will not be the only ones creeped on by Brunson.

Let's put it this way... would you feel like shit if something more nefarious happened with Brunson and somebody down the line? What is there to lose by sending an email or whatever... if you or her are gaining peace of mind?

[Monster]

Whoa. Missed this the first time it was posted...

It's actually a timely discussion considering everything going on right now with the #metoo movement and whatnot.

Considering his history... and the environment... perhaps something as simple as an anonymous note to somebody within the Wolves organization. If the dude's a creeper, there's a very good chance that your coworker and the masseuse will not be the only ones creeped on by Brunson.

Let's put it this way... would you feel like shit if something more nefarious happened with Brunson and somebody down the line? What is there to lose by sending an email or whatever... if you or her are gaining peace of mind?

Agreed Abe.

Bleed now that this has come up again I hope you find some way to communicate this to the Timberwolves organization. At some point video evidence may be worth adding to the power of your speaking to this situation. I've seen first hand how much it can make a difference in a room of decision makers.