How A Parent-Coach Dispute Turned Into DUI Charge For Rick Adelman's Son

Rick Adelman's son David is on trial for DUI, but the proceedings have revealed that the incident was the result of a sting set up by the father of one of his players. Wasn't this an episode of Hang Time?

It has been well established that the Adelman kids do two things well—coach basketball and drive drunk. (And they don't really coach basketball that well.) David was the head coach at Lincoln High in Portland, Oregon, back in February when he was nailed for his second career DUI charge. But on the first day of his trial this week, his lawyer claimed that the only reason police pulled him over that night is because the wealthy father of one of Adelman's players had hired a private investigator to tail Adelman to a bar, wait until he got drunk, then call 911 when he left in his car.

Adelman's lawyer says it was all part of a campaign "to discredit, subvert, harass and ultimately cause the firing of David Adelman." The lawyer for the parent says, "Um ... duh." However, he claims that everyone knew Adelman was a drunk, but that the principal, the school board and the police wouldn't listen. In David's defense, Big Daddy Rick showed up to testify that the parent—Portland financier (a.k.a., "obnoxious rich guy") John Lekas—was a menace who threatened to get his son fired. Rick actually met with Lekas to try and reason with him and later wrote, "I have seen many disgruntled parents over the years, but I have never seen anyone as vindictive as you."

Of course, there's nothing illegal about watching someone get drunk and then calling the cops on them and Adelman was clearly hammered, but his lawyer argues that without the phone call, police had no probable cause to pull him over. The cops even admitted that they did not see the moving violation that allegedly led to the traffic stop. So was Lekas looking out for his boy's roster spot or his personal safety?

"They want to paint this as being all about John Lekas' kid not getting playing time. That's not the issue," [Lekas' lawyer] said. "We have a lot of rich, arrogant people in this case," Layne said, "and they're not all on my client list."

The moral of the story? Never get involved in high school sports, ever. This soap opera is to be continued ....

Private eye hired by parent at center of Lincoln High coach's trial [The Oregonian]