Report: The Phoenix Suns Star Has Terminated His Contract of $100 million due to…
Zion Williamson will be the first prospect to hear his name called on NBA draft night but he won’t be entering the league free of controversy. The Crossover breaks down the $100M lawsuit against the former Duke star and his agency CAA.
MICHAEL MCCANNJUN 20, 2019
At around 7:30 p.m. ET tonight, NBA commissioner Adam Silver will appear on a stage in the Barclays Center and utter these words:
With the first pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans select Zion Williamson from Duke University.
The 6’7, 284-pound forward will then stand, greet his family, walk towards the stage, don a Pelicans cap that will be handed to him and shake Silver’s hand. It will be all smiles for arguably the most promising new player to enter the league since LeBron James in 2003.
When Williamson’s NBA career excitedly takes off tonight, it won’t be free and clear of controversy.
In fact, more than $100 million is the subject of federal and now state court litigation involving the ACC Player of the Year and the ACC Rookie of the Year.
Two weeks ago, the 18-year-old sued Prime Sports Marketing, a Florida based company, and its president, Gina Ford, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. As explained in an accompanying Sports Illustratedlegal story, Williamson insists that a contract he signed with Prime Sports in April to represent him in endorsement deals is void and illegal under North Carolina’s Uniform Athlete Agent Act (UAAA). Williamson intends to have CAA Sports represent him in negotiations for both his forthcoming employment contract with the Pelicans and lucrative endorsement deals with various companies. CAA basketball agent Austin Brown and CAA executive Lisa Joseph-Metelus will primarily handle Williamson’s dealings.
Ford, who has represented Usain Bolt and other athletes in endorsement deals, has now struck back. And she hopes Williamson will pay a hefty price for what she depicts as Williamson and CAA conspiring to steal her work and brazenly breach a contract that Williamson had willingly signed.
Late Wednesday, Ford and Prime Sports filed an 88-page complaint in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court against Williamson, Brown, Joseph-Metelus and CAA. Sports Illustrated has obtained a copy of the complaint and its exhibits. Ford and her company demand at least $100 million in damages, along with other remedies.
Ford is represented by attorney Stephen Drummond of the New York-based law firm Drummond & Squillace. Drummond, who served six years enlisted active duty in the United States Marine Corps and has been honored for his service during the Gulf War, has crafted a detailed complaint with a clear central theme: after Williamson contractually agreed to Ford’s representation and after Ford engaged in substantive negotiations with such major companies as Puma, EA Sports and Mercedes Benz on Williamson’s behalf, Williamson and CAA conspired to unlawfully cut Ford out of the equation.
As explained below, the complaint includes claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealings, fraud, tortious interference with a contract, civil conspiracy, unjust enforcement, misappropriation and violation of the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
