ballmerFrom honing his golf game to offering up advice to young students, it seems as though Steve Ballmer has enjoyed life post-Microsoft. But now the former CEO finds himself being sued for $3 million in a messy lawsuit related to the NBA.

The Seattle Times has the details of the suit, which accuses Ballmer of promising to pay off the debts of a former Sonics employee who was helping Ballmer bring the Sacramento Kings to Seattle last year.

Retired Seattle scientist Thomas Bukowski recently added Ballmer’s name to a list of three defendants in a lawsuit he filed last October against former Sonics employee Steve Gordon. Bukowski contends that he’s owed $10 million from Gordon — $3 million of which Bukowski thinks Ballmer should pay.

200px-Seattle_SuperSonics_logo (1)Gordon had planned on making money and potentially earning a minority ownership stake in the Kings NBA franchise, but an effort to bring the team to Seattle fell through at the last second this past May.

The lawsuit alleges that Gordon then went to Ballmer in panic — the two have been friends for more than two decades. Once the Kings deal fell apart, the suit says that Gordon fell into depression and that Ballmer helped his friend fly to a psychiatric hospital and paid for Gordon’s lawyer.

“Ballmer promised Gordon that if Gordon agreed to check himself into the Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas for treatment, Ballmer would in turn repay Gordon’s outstanding debts to investment creditors,” the lawsuit reads.

Bukowski contends that Ballmer actually paid $50,000 for one of Gordon’s creditors before backing off from that agreement.

“Bukowski has the right to enforce the contract between Gordon and Ballmer because Gordon and Ballmer entered into the agreement intending and understanding that their agreement would necessarily and directly benefit third-party investor creditors of Gordon’s, including Bukowski,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit also notes that back in the 1990s, Ballmer repaid approximately $560,000 in real estate debt for property Gordon owned in North Bend, Wash. Then, in the early 2000’s, Ballmer also “arranged for payment to discharge roughly $1.1 million in real estate debt and delinquent tax liabilities owed by Gordon.” Gordon is also apparently a godfather to at least one of Ballmer’s children.

Ballmer’s lawyer told the Seattle Times that the former Microsoft CEO never agreed to pay Gordon’s debt and will “vigorously” fight the lawsuit, which you can view in full here:

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