Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo always had closed practices so, at first, no one noticed anything wrong on the day of Dec. 1, 1997. But while beat writers chatted with the first-year Warriors coach, one reporter noticed long scratches across Carlesimo's neck.
"I made a joking comment, 'Did you cut yourself shaving today? Did you have a bad razor?'" a reporter recalled in an ESPN Classic documentary on Sprewell. "And he looked at me and he said, 'No comment.'"
By the end of the day, the sports world was stunned to learn Carlesimo had been choked by star Latrell Sprewell — and it only got stranger from there.