MIAMI – The Florida appeals court has temporarily given the efforts of NBA newcomer Zion Williamson to block the efforts of his former marketing agent to ask the former Duke star to answer questions about whether he received inappropriate benefits before playing for Blue Devils.
Thursday’s order gave Williamson a stay and stopped proceedings in lawsuits from Prime Sports Marketing and company president Gina Ford, whose lawyer had to respond within 10 days.
The lawsuit filed last summer accused Williamson and the agency now representing him of breach of contract. Williamson had filed her own lawsuit a week earlier in North Carolina to terminate a five-year contract with Prime Sports after moving to Creative Artists Agency LLC.
Ford’s attorney had raised questions in a filing last month that included whether New Orleans Pelicans or anyone on his behalf sought or received “money, benefits, help or things of value” to be signed with Duke. They sought answers within 30 days to establish the facts under oath in the pretrial discovery process.
Lawyers for the entire NBA draft pick 1 year ago argued that the question was “nothing more than a fishing expedition,” but district judge David C. Miller denied Williamson’s original stay request Tuesday.
Jeremy Watkins, spokesman for Williamson lawyer Jeffrey Klein, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Thursday night. Larry A. Strauss and Stephen L. Drummond, lawyers for the Prime Sports-Ford legal team, did not immediately return emails to comment.
