Maxwell Sues Portland Fan

HOUSTON - Vernon Maxwell, the suspended guard for the Houston Rockets, has filed a federal lawsuit, claiming the fan he punched in Portland slandered him.

Maxwell filed the suit in Houston on Monday, contending Steve George and his brother, Nick George, slandered him by "maliciously accusing him of a crime, namely assault." The lawsuit says nothing about whether the attack actually took place.

George's attorney, Dick Maizels, called Maxwell's lawsuit an "interesting twist." Maxwell's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, refused comment on the lawsuit.

Maxwell was suspended for 10 games and fined $20,000 by the NBA for going into the stands to punch Steve George of Atlanta on Feb. 6 in Portland. Maxwell said George shouted racial and sexual insults about his family, especially his daughter, Amber, who died in 1993.