Report: NBA referee suing AP writer over tweet

An NBA referee wants to take an AP reporter from the basketball court to a court room.

According to ESPN, veteran official Bill Spooner is suing Minnesota Timberwolves beat writer Jon Krawczynski for tweeting that Spooner promised to give coach Kurt Rambis a make-up call after a disputed foul call.

The lawsuit claims that Rambis was upset over a foul called in the second quarter during a Jan. 24 game against the Rockets.

Rambis allegedly asked how his team was supposed to recoup the two points that the foul cost his team. That's when Krawczynski claims Spooner responded with a quid pro quo.

"Ref Bill Spooner told Rambis he'd 'get it back' after a bad call," Krawczynski tweeted. "Then he made an even worse call on Rockets. That's NBA officiating folks."

Spooner is seeking $75,000 in damages and a retraction of the tweet, alleging it is defamatory, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal.

"We believe all of the facts we reported from the game in question were accurate," AP Associate General Counsel Dave Tomlin said in a statement.