If you thought Dwyane Wade’s current predicament was starting to get messy, well, he’s got more on his hands now.
The saga continues for the Miami Heat All-Star who will be in a different courtroom and facing a different type of lawsuit – a $25 million lawsuit to be precise – filed by his former partners for a failed restaurant venture. Today marked the first day of the trial. Here are more details from USA Today:
The lawsuit – one of many Wade is dealing with this offseason – is over the defunct deal where he and his former partners would team up for a chain of D. Wade’s Place restaurants. The former partners claim he broke a contract by demanding higher compensation and then abandoning the deal in 2008. Wade’s stance is that he was well within his rights to terminate the arrangement.
Of the first 24 jurors called, only two said they had no idea who Wade was. The court building is nestled in the same downtown portion of Miami as the Heat’s home arena and three jurors told the court they would not be able to listen fairly to testimony because Wade was their favorite player.
The celebrity factor was evident.
A steady stream of court employees milled in and out of the room, including some who snapped photos of Wade with cell-phone cameras before jury selection began. A vacationing judge even popped in briefly during the second hour of the proceedings, looking briefly at the table where Wade and his attorneys were seated before exiting.
Now I definitely would not be surprised to see him on the first thing smokin’ come this summer when he becomes a free agent.