Former Southern California basketball player Chad Baker-Mazara sued the university and coach Eric Musselman on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court after his abrupt dismissal from the team in March.
Baker-Mazara alleges breach of contract, conversion and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. The lawsuit does not state a specific dollar amount he is seeking. The Trojans terminated his NIL agreements with the program the day after he was removed from the roster on March 1, stating he had violated a morals clause, according to the lawsuit. Baker-Mazara claims USC has not paid the remainder of the promised NIL earnings.
The lawsuit cites a locker room incident after the loss to Nebraska in which Musselman allegedly told Baker-Mazara to leave and said, "Go back to the [expletive] Dominican Republic! Nobody wants you here," according to court filings. Baker-Mazara, a 26-year-old from the Dominican Republic, took the comments to be racist and discriminatory. He was dropped from the team the next day without an explanation from USC.
Baker-Mazara averaged 18.5 points as the team's second-leading scorer while starting 22 of 26 games last season. He scored 14 points in the 82-67 loss to Nebraska a day before being dismissed. He was MVP of the Maui Invitational, won by the Trojans last November. He was not selected in this year's NBA draft.
USC said Tuesday in a statement that "the decision to remove the student-athlete from the men's basketball roster was based on a number of considerations, none having to do with race," and that it looks forward to defeating the action in court. Baker-Mazara said he played through injuries and honored his commitments, and that filing the lawsuit was not an easy decision but was necessary to stand up for what he was promised and owed.
