Temple University basketball coach, John Chaney, ordered one of his bench players to engage in rough play during a game against St. Joseph’s.
John Chaney was suspended for the rest of the regular season by Temple on
Friday for ordering rough play by one of his players, who proceeded to foul out
in four minutes against Saint Joseph’s and broke an opponent’s arm.
Suppose the victim, John Bryant [see here, registration required], can/will sue Chaney, Temple, and the offending player. What would be appropriate compensation? Has the broken arm materially affected the victim’s chances of being drafted by the NBA? If so, by what change in probabilities or by what order in the draft? How much lower will his salary be as a result of the broken arm? And what is the effect on expected other income as well? And the real kicker: how big will/should the punitive damages be?
With the suit against Todd Bertuzzi by Steve Moore, it is reasonable to expect more such suits. I wonder if this case might be one of the next.
[Thanks to Tom at Houston’s Clear Thinkers for the pointer; he suggests “the liability phase of that civil case is a dead cinch winner for the injured player,” which is what started me thinking about the possible damage award.]
