Carmelo Anthony Testimony Appears to Backfire in NASL-U.S. Soccer Trial

NBA legend Carmelo Anthony tried a different type of court yesterday, and it didn’t go as well as his Hall of Fame career on the hardwood. Anthony, a former North American Soccer League owner, testified Wednesday in the defunct league’s antitrust trial against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and Major League Soccer in its second week in Brooklyn federal court.

The judge in the case, Hector Gonzalez, criticized Anthony’s appearance after he and the jury departed. Gonzalez said he did not understand why Anthony testified, as the lawsuit was brought by the league and not the owners. And in a sign that the testimony may have backfired, the judge said he may narrow the jury instructions.

“After listening to that testimony I am thinking of changing the damages instruction,” said Judge Hector Gonzalez. Currently the instructions say only damages—if jurors vote in favor of NASL—are tied to antitrust violations. Gonzalez said he was considering adding a clause to the damages instruction that any monetary amount not reflect losses by individual owners.

That may be due to the sad story Anthony told Wednesday, plus his status as a celebrity.

Anthony owned Puerto Rico FC from 2015 until the league shuttered in late 2017. That’s when U.S. Soccer declined to renew its Division II status, a decision NASL alleges was a result of a conspiracy between U.S. Soccer and MLS. That alleged conspiracy is the heart of the antitrust trial that finally kicked off last week after years of legal wrangling. NASL is suing for up to $170 million. The damages, if awarded, would be tripled under antitrust law to more than $500 million.

Anthony testified about bringing a pro soccer team to the island, and the devastating effect of Hurricane Maria in 2017. The team’s players and staff were left homeless, and its venue destroyed, he testified.

He was subjected to a tough cross examination by MLS outside counsel, Keisha-Ann G. Gray of Proskauer Rose. Anthony said he had never seen the league’s financials, did not know his own club’s financial state, and was unaware of the danger of NASL investor Traffic Sports’ role in the 2015 FIFA bribery scandal.  

The defense has argued NASL failed due to bad business plans and poor choices—not an alleged conspiracy between USSF and MLS. That dispute was at the heart of Anthony’s cross-examination Wednesday.

Gray, the lawyer for MLS, showed Anthony an email from a fellow owner warning that the bribery scandal threatened the league’s future, and another who wrote he was worried Traffic was using NASL to launder money. Anthony was included on each email, though he testified he was unaware of their content until the lawyer read them.

Anthony, who owns a Brooklyn-based media company, repeatedly said he relied in 2015 on his “team” to perform due diligence, meaning his lawyer and others. “My team was responsible for this, I was doing what I had to do with my other job,” Anthony testified, referring to his spot on the New York Knicks at the time. Anthony did not pay a fee to acquire the team.

Gray also pressed Anthony on why exactly Puerto Rico FC failed. In a years-old deposition, he had pinned the club’s collapse on Hurricane Maria. Now, in court, he was blaming the later denial of NASL’s Division II sanction. Asked which it was after Gray read the deposition back to him, Anthony replied: “It was a double whammy.”

At the end of her cross-examination, Gray waved Anthony’s autobiography and noted it says he achieved his success through hard work, sacrifice, and commitment.  Looking toward the table where the NASL team was seated, she said that’s true in general, a subtle swipe at the defunct league.