Denver Nuggets center Chris Andersen gets his game face on for their game against the New Orleans Hornets on Jan. 9, 2012 at Pepsi Center. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
A longtime attorney, agent and father figure to former Denver Nuggets center Chris “Birdman” Andersen has countersued him in a Centennial court, claiming he was never paid for keeping Andersen out of prison, keeping him off drugs and telling him not to buy a creperie.
“Mark Bryant’s only involvement with Crepes ‘n Crepes was to advise Mr. Andersen, his friend, not to get involved with the business and its debts,” Bryant’s lawsuit says of the former Cherry Creek mainstay, for which Andersen paid $650,000. It has since gone out of business.
The falling out between Andersen and Bryant went public last fall, when the former NBA player sued Bryant, a Greenwood Village lawyer who coined the term “family CEO” to describe his legal and financial work on behalf of affluent clients. Andersen made a long list of allegations, including theft and fraud, and claimed Bryant’s “betrayal” caused “devastation.”
That lawsuit and Bryant’s Sept. 5 countersuit offer opposing accounts of who is to blame for the personal, legal and financial misfortunes of Andersen — and who should pay for them.
Andersen, 47, joined the NBA in 2001, after being signed by the Nuggets. Nicknamed Birdman for his leaps and wingspan, he played two seasons with the New Orleans Hornets from 2004-2006, was suspended for two years after testing positive for drugs, and returned to the Nuggets in 2008. He later bounced between three other teams before retiring in 2017.
Off the court, Andersen is best remembered for being the victim of a strange and elaborate scheme. In 2012, a Canadian woman named Shelly Chartier used phony social media accounts to coordinate a real-world relationship between Andersen and a 17-year-old girl, whom Andersen believed to be an adult. Andersen was investigated for having nude photos of the minor but not prosecuted. Chartier served a year in prison for impersonation.
“Yet again, Bryant helped Mr. Andersen manage the situation and he was never charged with any criminal acts, i.e. possession of child pornography as defined by Colorado law, and went on to play for the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies,” according to Bryant’s countersuit.
But fallout from Chartier’s extortion plot, known as a “catfishing” scheme, continued. Andersen refused to pay taxes between 2015-2017 in protest of the U.S. government’s refusal to extradite Chartier, resulting in penalties. In 2022, he agreed to be in a Netflix documentary about the case that was being produced by Shaquille O’Neal’s studio. It has not been released.
Andersen says that Bryant failed to resolve his tax case, costing him an extra $63,000, and convinced him to sign a deal with the documentary company that gave him no editorial control and no compensation in exchange for his life story. But Bryant says that Andersen chose on his own not to pay taxes and knew he would not be paid for or have control over the film.
“If you are good with it, I am good with it,” he says Andersen told him of the film contract.
Mark Bryant, left, and Chris Andersen after the latter’s Dallas Power won the Big3 league championship in 2018. (X)
Then there is Crepes ‘n Crepes. It had been in Cherry Creek for nearly 20 years when, in 2021, Andersen began dating Alexandra Pozdnyak, the daughter of owners Alain and Ellina Veratti; Andersen and Pozdnyak have since married. Andersen bought the creperie in 2022 and moved it to Congress Park, where it was shut down last year for failure to pay taxes.
For that, Andersen blames Bryant, who reportedly advised him to leave Cherry Creek. But in his countersuit, Bryant denies that and says he told Andersen never to buy the business, which already owed three years of taxes and needed to repay a $500,000 loan. After his advice was ignored, Bryant helped Andersen sell a home in Las Vegas to cover the cost, he says.
“Once again, Bryant assisted Mr. Andersen by fixing problems caused by Mr. Andersen’s own actions. Mr. Bryant was never compensated for any of this work,” his lawsuit claims.
Bryant is suing for unpaid attorney fees and for defamation, saying Andersen’s lawsuit hurt his reputation. Bryant does not say how much money he believes he is owed but his countersuit tallies 880 hours of unpaid work and that does not include the criminal matter.
Bryant’s lawyers are Derek Anderson and Jennifer O’Shea with Winget Spadafora and Schwartzberg in Boulder. Andersen’s are James Fogg and Delanie Grewe with Haddon Morgan and Foreman in Denver, who declined to comment on Bryant’s allegations.
Crepes ‘n Crepes, meanwhile, has been ordered to pay $167,000 to City Street Investors, its former landlord at 1222 Madison St., which sued it this year for breaking its lease.
Denver Nuggets center Chris Andersen gets his game face on for their game against the New Orleans Hornets on Jan. 9, 2012 at Pepsi Center. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
A longtime attorney, agent and father figure to former Denver Nuggets center Chris “Birdman” Andersen has countersued him in a Centennial court, claiming he was never paid for keeping Andersen out of prison, keeping him off drugs and telling him not to buy a creperie.
“Mark Bryant’s only involvement with Crepes ‘n Crepes was to advise Mr. Andersen, his friend, not to get involved with the business and its debts,” Bryant’s lawsuit says of the former Cherry Creek mainstay, for which Andersen paid $650,000. It has since gone out of business.
The falling out between Andersen and Bryant went public last fall, when the former NBA player sued Bryant, a Greenwood Village lawyer who coined the term “family CEO” to describe his legal and financial work on behalf of affluent clients. Andersen made a long list of allegations, including theft and fraud, and claimed Bryant’s “betrayal” caused “devastation.”
That lawsuit and Bryant’s Sept. 5 countersuit offer opposing accounts of who is to blame for the personal, legal and financial misfortunes of Andersen — and who should pay for them.
Andersen, 47, joined the NBA in 2001, after being signed by the Nuggets. Nicknamed Birdman for his leaps and wingspan, he played two seasons with the New Orleans Hornets from 2004-2006, was suspended for two years after testing positive for drugs, and returned to the Nuggets in 2008. He later bounced between three other teams before retiring in 2017.
Off the court, Andersen is best remembered for being the victim of a strange and elaborate scheme. In 2012, a Canadian woman named Shelly Chartier used phony social media accounts to coordinate a real-world relationship between Andersen and a 17-year-old girl, whom Andersen believed to be an adult. Andersen was investigated for having nude photos of the minor but not prosecuted. Chartier served a year in prison for impersonation.
“Yet again, Bryant helped Mr. Andersen manage the situation and he was never charged with any criminal acts, i.e. possession of child pornography as defined by Colorado law, and went on to play for the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies,” according to Bryant’s countersuit.
But fallout from Chartier’s extortion plot, known as a “catfishing” scheme, continued. Andersen refused to pay taxes between 2015-2017 in protest of the U.S. government’s refusal to extradite Chartier, resulting in penalties. In 2022, he agreed to be in a Netflix documentary about the case that was being produced by Shaquille O’Neal’s studio. It has not been released.
Andersen says that Bryant failed to resolve his tax case, costing him an extra $63,000, and convinced him to sign a deal with the documentary company that gave him no editorial control and no compensation in exchange for his life story. But Bryant says that Andersen chose on his own not to pay taxes and knew he would not be paid for or have control over the film.
“If you are good with it, I am good with it,” he says Andersen told him of the film contract.
Mark Bryant, left, and Chris Andersen after the latter’s Dallas Power won the Big3 league championship in 2018. (X)
Then there is Crepes ‘n Crepes. It had been in Cherry Creek for nearly 20 years when, in 2021, Andersen began dating Alexandra Pozdnyak, the daughter of owners Alain and Ellina Veratti; Andersen and Pozdnyak have since married. Andersen bought the creperie in 2022 and moved it to Congress Park, where it was shut down last year for failure to pay taxes.
For that, Andersen blames Bryant, who reportedly advised him to leave Cherry Creek. But in his countersuit, Bryant denies that and says he told Andersen never to buy the business, which already owed three years of taxes and needed to repay a $500,000 loan. After his advice was ignored, Bryant helped Andersen sell a home in Las Vegas to cover the cost, he says.
“Once again, Bryant assisted Mr. Andersen by fixing problems caused by Mr. Andersen’s own actions. Mr. Bryant was never compensated for any of this work,” his lawsuit claims.
Bryant is suing for unpaid attorney fees and for defamation, saying Andersen’s lawsuit hurt his reputation. Bryant does not say how much money he believes he is owed but his countersuit tallies 880 hours of unpaid work and that does not include the criminal matter.
Bryant’s lawyers are Derek Anderson and Jennifer O’Shea with Winget Spadafora and Schwartzberg in Boulder. Andersen’s are James Fogg and Delanie Grewe with Haddon Morgan and Foreman in Denver, who declined to comment on Bryant’s allegations.
Crepes ‘n Crepes, meanwhile, has been ordered to pay $167,000 to City Street Investors, its former landlord at 1222 Madison St., which sued it this year for breaking its lease.
