A brawl involving Mavericks forward Tim Thomas has been reported at allas-area Denny's restaurant. According to reports, Thomas, another man, and three women responded to a greeting from 29-year-old Daniel Pettie with gay slurs before a melee which involved the throwing of chairs.
The Dallas Morning News reports:
"Pettie told The Dallas Morning News that someone else — not Thomas — threw the chair.
He said that when he and his friends passed by Thomas' table and he addressed the player by saying, 'What's up?' Thomas responded that that he didn't talk to 'faggots.'
Pettie said he later passed Thomas' table again, and that Thomas made another remark derogatory remark about gays. 'I asked one of the guys, ‘What the hell did you say?'' Pettie said. 'As Tim continued to instigate the situation, one of the guys hit me in my mouth. Another one of his friends hit me. They pushed me down onto a table.'
Pettie says he picked up a chair to defend himself. One of the men who hit him in the face then picked up a chair and threw it, he said. Pettie said he caught the chair, but not before it (hit) Kissick.
He said Thomas then yelled out that the police had been called and that it was time to leave. 'It was juvenile,' said Pettie. 'It was like a bunch of high school kids. It reminded me of high school. The popular kids picking on lower classmen. That's how they acted. (Thomas) acted like a big bully kid in high school.'
Pettie said that he is not gay, but that some of the friends who were with him are lesbian."
A local sports anchor for KRLD was reportedly a witness to the brawl and will be telling his version of events this afternoon.
UPDATE: KRLD's Emrich provides account.