Former Duke star Zion Williamson doesn’t want to answer agent’s claims under oath
Zion Williamson and his attorneys have asked a Florida court to block his former agent’s attempt to get him to answer her claims that he accepted illegal benefits prior to and during his Duke basketball career.
In documents filed on May 22 in a Miami-Dade County court as part of the contractual dispute between the NBA star and Prime Sports Marketing’s Gina Ford, Williamsons’ attorneys said Ford’s accusations are “legally irrelevant and unduly burdensome” and thus don’t merit a response.
The filing also includes the closest thing to denials Williamson or his legal team have issued since Ford made her claims, without evidence, in court documents earlier this month.
“Plaintiffs’ irrelevant and invasive requests are designed to harass and are not calculated to lead to discovery of relevant evidence,” his lawyers, Corey Berman and Jeffrey Klein, wrote in the court filing. “Any benefit that might result from allowing Plaintiffs’ fishing expedition to go forward is vastly outweighed by the clear, intended harm to Williamson.”
Ford seeks $100 million because Williamson, after signing a contract in April 2019 that allowed her to represent him in endorsement deals, broke the deal a month later to sign with mega-firm CAA for endorsement and contract services.
Since Ford was not a registered agent in North Carolina, thus in violation of North Carolina’s Uniform Agent-Athlete Act, Williamson claims the contract he signed with her is null and void, meaning he owes her nothing for breaking it.
“It is undisputed that Williamson, in fact, played basketball for Duke during the 2018-2019 season, and that Plaintiffs solicited Mr. Williamson and his family while Mr. Williamson was playing basketball for Duke,” Berman and Klein wrote in the filing. “Thus, even were Williamson’s status at issue (which it is not), the relevant time period for that determination would be when he interacted with Plaintiffs in 2019—when he was “engaged in” playing basketball and therefore a “student athlete” for UAAA purposes—not what Plaintiffs hope they might discover now, which they did not know at the time they were recruiting Mr. Williamson.”
Zion Williamson, Gina Ford both file suits
Williamson and Ford are facing off in a pair of court cases to settle their contract dispute. Williamson filed suit in the federal court in Greensboro seeking to declare the contract void. Ford filed a suit in a Florida state court in Miami, claiming it is the proper jurisdiction to rule on the case.
On May 6, in the Miami court, Ford filed a series of requests for admission, seeking to force Williamson to answer, under oath, her claim that he and his family “demanded and received gifts, money and/or other benefits from persons on behalf of Duke University (directly and/or indirectly) to influence you to attend Duke University to play basketball.”
Williamson has 30 days to provide answers to her claims. Instead, he is seeking to block them via a stay or a protective order.
A June 2 hearing to settle the matter is scheduled in Miami-Dade County Civil Court.
Williamson was the ACC player of the year during his lone season at Duke, when he led the Blue Devils to a 32-6 record and the ACC championship. The New Orleans Pelicans selected him No. 1 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Michael Avenatti claims Zion Williamson paid to play at Duke
Through numerous statements since 2018, Duke steadfastly states Williamson’s eligibility was not compromised. The NCAA clearinghouse declared him eligible in 2018 when he enrolled at Duke through an enhanced background check of his family’s finances and his academic record.
When lawyer Michael Avenatti — since found guilty of attempting to extort Nike — claimed in April 2019 Williamson took payments before playing at Duke, the school made another inquiry into those claims and declared them bogus.
That same statement was released in response to Ford’s claims earlier this month.
“As soon as Duke was made aware of any allegation that might have affected Zion Williamson’s eligibility, we conducted a thorough and objective investigation which was directed by individuals outside the athletics department,” Michael Schoenfeld, Duke University Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations / Chief Communications Officer, said in the statement. “We found no evidence to support any allegation. Zion thrived as both a student and an athlete at Duke, and always conducted himself with integrity and purpose.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 10:18 AM.