Court rules Zion Williamson doesn’t have to answer questions about benefits
The NBA re-start has not yet begun, but Zion Williamson already has a win to his credit.
On Wednesday, a state appeals court in Florida granted the New Orleans Pelicans star a full stay in the lawsuit brought by his former marketing manager, Gina Ford and Prime Sports Marketing.
That means Williamson will not have to answer questions about whether he or representatives on his behalf received improper benefits before his one-and-done season with the Duke Blue Devils.
Willamson’s attorneys argued that an earlier ruling by a court in North Carolina saying Williamson did not have to answer discovery questions with regard to his recruitment took precedence over an appeals court ruling in Florida. The appeals court had granted Williams a temporary stay.
Ford’s attorneys wanted Williamson to answer questions about whether his mother and stepfather requested and received improper benefits from representatives of Adidas and Nike, as well as people associated with Duke.
According to Mark Schlabach of ESPN, “Williamson’s attorneys have asked a federal judge in that case to void his marketing agreement with Ford and Prime Sports Marketing, claiming it wasn’t valid because Ford wasn’t a registered agent in North Carolina and the contract didn’t include a warning that was required by a state law designed to protect amateur athletes from unscrupulous agents.”
The AP reports, “In a filing last week in the North Carolina case, Prime Sports-Ford attorneys continued to argue that last summer’s No. 1 overall NBA draft pick didn’t meet the definition of a student-athlete because he was “ineligible” to play college sports. That filing referenced housing for Williamson’s family during his time with the Blue Devils as well as three luxury SUVs registered by his mother and stepfather between December 2017 and April 2019 — the latter being the same month Williamson announced he would go pro before ultimately being picked by the New Orleans Pelicans.”
Duke has declined comment in the case. The school earlier said it found no wrongdoing after conducting its own investigation.
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 10:28 AM.
