INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The NBA players' union filed a grievance Tuesday on behalf of Jamaal Tinsley, who has not been allowed to play or practice with the Indiana Pacers this season.
Though Tinsley is listed on the Indiana roster, team president Larry Bird has said the Pacers don't intend to bring him back."We are aware of the grievance filed today on behalf of Jamaal Tinsley," Bird said in a statement. "We made it clear to Jamaal and his agent, Raymond Brothers, that we would pursue a trade that we feel would be best for both parties and we continue to do so. In the meantime, we will do whatever necessary in preparing our case for arbitration should it come to that."
Brothers said last week that his client just wants to play.
"The Pacers told him he wasn't invited to training camp, not welcome at Conseco Fieldhouse," Brothers said. "He's not in the media guide or a part of anything they're doing."
Tinsley has been with the Pacers since 2001-02. He played in 39 games last season, the fewest in his seven-year NBA career.
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 19, and Tinsley has two years and $14.7 million left on his contract after this season.
Last March, charges in connection with a bar fight were dropped against Tinsley and teammate Marquis Daniels in exchange for 32 hours of community service. But the Pacers deemed Tinsley expendable in a roster shake-up that brought in seven new players over the summer.
"It just didn't work out," Pacers co-owner Herb Simon said recently. "He's not a bad person, although things happened here which were not good. It was time for him to move on, and we're trying to help him move to a place that will be better for him."
His nameplate was removed from his locker at Conseco Fieldhouse, and the team sent his belongings to him in Atlanta.
