Greg Anthony won’t be getting his job back with Turner Sports or CBS this year, but at least he will have an opportunity to have the case against him cleared. Via the AP, Anthony agreed to a plea deal that will see him do 32 hours of community service to get the charges of soliciting a prostitute dropped.
Basketball analyst Greg Anthony will have a soliciting prostitution charge dropped if he does 32 hours of community service and stays out of trouble for four months.
Anthony, his attorney and a prosecutor told a judge Wednesday that they had agreed to the deal, called a deferred prosecution agreement.
Anthony was arrested for soliciting prostitution at a Washington hotel on Jan. 16. Court documents say he responded to an escort ad authorities placed on a classifieds website.
The 47-year-old former NBA player was suspended by CBS and Turner Sports following his arrest. Anthony apologized in a statement to his family and colleagues, calling his actions a “lapse of judgment.”
Anthony was CBS/Turner’s top college basketball analyst and primed to call the Final Four once again with Jim Nantz before his arrest last month. In the meantime, the two companies have seemingly moved on without him – Bill Raftery and Grant Hill are the new analysts for the Final Four and CBS/Turner have made it publicly clear that it isn’t envisioned as just a one-year assignment.
Anthony is still suspended indefinitely by both CBS and Turner, at least through the rest of this season. However, the charges eventually being dropped may at least provide him a pathway back to his television career. While it’s unthinkable to imagine either company restoring Anthony to a top analyst position, at least immediately, perhaps there could still be a spot for him at NBATV as he works his way back from the public embarrassment. There’s still every chance he can get back on television before Brian Williams does.
[AP]
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