NBA Insider with Ken Berger

Thanks to those of you who offered your congratulations on little Z-Berg, who is getting a lot more sleep than I am these days.

After two solid weeks of getting woken up at all hours of the night to feed, diaper, cuddle, and otherwise parent our new addition, I wound up flat on my back for the better part of four days with some sort of infection. I had to do the unthinkable – cancel my trip to Charleston, which promised a couple of good stories, sunshine, delicious food, and several consecutive uninterrupted nights of sleep. Thankfully, Alan has been keeping his Fixers – and presumably himself – well fed during the first few days of camp.

In response to Orange and Blue’s question about what David Stern might do to either Isiah Thomas or Jim Dolan as a result of the verdict in the sexual harassment trial, my firm belief is that he will do nothing. Stern is rarely afraid to discipline anyone with a pulse, but he has long been opposed to getting involved in matters of civil litigation. I expect him to stay as far away from this fiasco as he can. For additional thoughts on this, see my column that will run in Sunday’s paper.

I know most of you are probably sick of hearing about the trial, but I thought this was an interesting tidbit for you. Can anyone guess how much Anucha Browne Sanders will actually receive after paying her lawyers and her income tax bill?

I’ll spoil the suspense and tell you: After paying the presumed standard contingency fee to her attorneys (typically 33 percent), and after satisfying the IRS, Browne Sanders will walk way with about $4.2 million of the $11.6 million in punitive damages awarded by the jury.

If the attorneys get one-third, that means they will receive $3.9 million – almost as much as their client. Considering the legal army they were up against, I have to admit it was well earned. But depending on the arrangement Browne Sanders made with her lawyers, she may also have to pay them for expenses – everything from copies to courier fees.

Assuming a 35 percent federal tax bracket and about 11 percent combined for state and city taxes, the government walks away with about $3.6 million of Browne Sanders’ money – money that may or may not benefit working women, or anyone else for that matter, depending on how the government decides to waste it.

While Browne Sanders does not have to pay tax on the attorney fees, in accordance with a 2004 law passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, Uncle Sam will get his mitts on a sizeable portion of that money anyway because it counts as income to the law firm.

My friend Craig Miller, partner in the D.C. law firm Simeone & Miller, says that before the law was changed, many victims in employment discrimination cases actually wound up owing money once they paid their taxes because attorney fees were considered taxable income.
Either way, the biggest winners are the lawyers and the government – as is usually the case in matters such as this.

U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch is expected to rule next month on Browne Sanders’ request for up to $10 million in compensatory damages. If she receives all she asks for, Browne Sanders will wind up with about $3.6 million of it after paying her lawyers and the IRS.

Nobody should be shedding any tears for Browne Sanders, nor do her financial obligations diminish the unnecessary embarrassment the Garden suffered by insisting to go to trial.

This little math exercise only illustrates how a verdict like this isn’t always the slam dunk it appears to be.

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Now, something basketball-related. Allan Houston’s wife gave birth Thursday to a baby girl, which explains the delay in his decision on whether to sign with the Knicks or the Nets. A person close to Houston says his decision, and a news conference, are expected in the coming days.
I’m with Alan Hahn on this one. I don’t quite see the benefit of adding Houston to this roster. But I’m not sure the Garden could stand seeing one of the popular former Knicks playing across the river in Jersey. So you never know.