Former Boston Celtics Star Loses Lawsuit Against ‘Racist’ Security Guard, Ordered To Pay $100,000

NBA Legend Paul Pierce is reported to have lost to a defamation case filed against him by a security guard he called as racist in October last year during an altercation at the audience area of the T-Mobile Arena which hosted UFC 229 featuring Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

According to TMZ Sports, the former 19-year NBA veteran is ordered to pay the complainant an amount costing $100,000 as the ruling sided in favor of the latter. Christopher Mostello, the security guard, sued the now ESPN TV Analyst for calling him a racist during the said verbal tiff.

In a captured video by TMZ, Pierce was seen in the middle of a tense-filled scene with Mostello while the event guard was leading the former NBA Champion to his view of the bout. The 42-year-old Pierce, to his defense, claimed that Mostello “gave him a hard time while trying to get to his seat.”

The security guard, meanwhile, insisted that Pierce was “acting inappropriately that night”, citing an instance where the 10-time NBA All-Star got physical and aggressive with a female security advisor. Montello also said that he was just doing his job.

Pierce had seemed to be unfazed by the lawsuit to begin with as the court never heard from him during the proceedings that prompted the judge to order him to compensate Montello.

“The case went in front of a judge who ordered Pierce to either respond to the lawsuit or face a default judgment. And since the court never heard from Pierce, the judge ordered him to pay up,” the report from TMZ continued.

Pierce could still ask the court to reconsider the initial sanction served to him. But observers know that Pierce could not simply care less as the said remedy is designed only “for someone who didn't have the means to fight in the case in the first place.”

It seems more logical for Pierce to just pay the asked price. Besides, based on a reported $200 million earnings from last year, pulling out $100,000 from his bank statement would not hurt so much.