"I'm shocked, really," said Curry, who missed the Knicks' 101-95 victory at New Orleans on Monday night because of a sore right knee. "He approached my friends awhile back, trying to get money. I just never, ever thought it would go past what it did, which was just idle threats, money-or-else kind of stuff."

Dave Kuchinsky alleges in the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that Curry owes him $98,000 in back pay and expenses. Newsday reported Tuesday that Kuchinsky is also seeking $5 million in compensatory damages.

Kuchinsky also accuses Curry of exposing himself and harassing the former driver and said Curry referred to his Jewish heritage in a derogatory way, calling him a "cracker," "white slave," "white devil" and "grandmaster of the KKK."

Curry said he never made such comments.

"Everyone who knows me knows I'm not a racist. I've never made a comment like that, playing, or nothing," Curry said. "Aside from the fact I wouldn't do it because I'm not racist, I wouldn't do it because I wouldn't want someone to play with me like that. That's incredible, man."

Curry is married with four children. The 26-year-old player is in his eighth NBA season and fourth with the Knicks. He has played in only one game this season because of knee injuries.

The lawsuit comes a little more than a year after former Knicks team president and coach Isiah Thomas was found by a jury to have sexually harassed former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders. MSG, the company that owns the Knicks, was ordered to pay $11.6 million in damages.

Curry portrayed the lawsuit against him as a desperate ploy for money by Kuchinsky, who was his employee for three years ending last October.

"It's like a prime example of you got to watch who's around you," Curry said. "This is a guy who I really thought he was my friend up until the last four, five months. I can't even believe this happened. ... I can't believe it went this far. I can't believe someone would represent something like that."