Former Knick star Latrell Sprewell roughed up the mother of four of his kids and told her they had a “fake-ass relationship” in an effort to worm out of his financial duties, the woman alleges in a $200 million federal lawsuit.
Longtime gal pal Candace Cabbil filed the lawsuit against Sprewell in Manhattan federal court yesterday, claiming the millionaire ex-NBA star abandoned and abused her – and is refusing to honor a 1994 deal re quiring they split his wealth.
According to the suit, Sprewell told Cabbil they “needed to end this fake-ass relationship” on Sept. 8 – the same day he learned he would not face criminal charges for allegedly choking a 21-year-old woman while they were having sex on his yacht.
Sprewell later turned his rage on Cabbil on Dec. 11, when he showed up unannounced at the Westchester County home where she lives with the kids and “dragged her down a flight of stairs by her feet,” the breach-of- contract lawsuit filed by attorney Raoul Felder states.
Cabbil claims she and Sprewell, 37, a four-time All-Star who helped lead the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1999, made an oral agreement to split all future assets in 1994, when she was pregnant with their first child and living with him in California.
Cabbil had four kids – now ages 3, 7, 8 and 11 – with Sprewell and became guardian to another of his daughters from a previous relationship, but could not convince the athlete to marry her.
Cabbil claims Sprewell always kept at least $100,000 in the bank and promised he’d support her “for the rest of her life” and that she “owned anything he owned,” including a $3 million home in Purchase, Westchester County, that he bought in 2000.
But the relationship began to sour, she says, in late 2005, when Sprewell turned down a $21 million contract extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves, claiming, “I have a family to feed.” Sprewell refused to play basketball or to return home, moving onto a yacht in Wisconsin.
Things got ugly in August 2006, when a woman claimed Sprewell choked her while they were having sex on the boat.
On Sept. 8, Sprewell’s lawyer announced he would not be facing charges in connection with the alleged attack. That same day, Sprewell allegedly told Cabbil that all bets were off.
“Soon thereafter [Sprewell] began sending less money than he historically had,” and Cabbil was often “unable to find him” when she wanted to discuss the children’s expenses, the lawsuit states.
Two months later, Cabbil claims, Sprewell showed up in Purchase, “chased her around her home and smacked her hand” when she tried to call cops. He then allegedly dragged her by her feet, “causing injury to her body as she bounced down the stairs.”
Sprewell’s lawyer, Jonathan Smith, declined comment.
This is just the latest development in Sprewell’s long and checkered career that featured his NBA suspension for choking his Golden State Warriors coach at a practice in 1997.