MIAMI – The appeals court in Florida has given rookie Pelican Zion Williamson the chance 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.
Wednesday’s order shifted focus to separate but related cases involving the same case in federal court in North Carolina.
The Florida lawsuit, filed last summer by Prime Sports Marketing and company president Gina Ford, accused Williamson and the agency of now representing him for breach of contract and asking for compensation of $ 100 million.
It happened after Williamson filed his own lawsuit a week earlier in North Carolina to terminate a five-year contract with Prime Sports after his decision to move to the Creative Artists Agency.
Ford’s attorney had raised questions in a filing last month that included whether Williamson 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.
Zion WilliamsonThe AP
Lawyers for the overall NBA draft pick No. 1 last year argued that the question was “nothing more than a fishing expedition.” Florida District Judge David C. Miller denied the original Williamson stay request, but it was temporarily canceled by the state appeals court, which has now made the decision permanent, siding with Williamson’s lawyer Jeffrey S. Klein that the federal case takes precedence.
In a filing last week in the North Carolina case, Prime Sports-Ford’s lawyer continued to argue that the overall NBA draft pick last summer did not meet the athlete-student definition because he was “ineligible” to play college sports. Submission of housing references for the Williamson family during his time with the Blue Devils and three luxury SUVs registered by his mother and stepfather between December 2017 and April 2019 – the last being the same month as Williamson announced he would become a pro before being taken by Pelikan New Orleans.
Arguments about Williamson’s eligibility are central to the legal struggle for Williamson’s potential support. Williamson’s lawsuit stated that Prime Sports violated state sports agency laws, both by not including a disclaimer about the loss of conditions when signing a contract and the fact that both Prime Sports and Ford were not registered as agents in North Carolina.
Lawyers for Prime Sports and Ford argue that the Uniform Athlete Agents Act will not apply if Williamson is not eligible to play campus basketball from the start.
Duke has repeatedly refused to comment on the case for not being involved in litigation, but issued a statement in January that the school had reviewed Williamson’s eligibility earlier and found no problems.
