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Court Document Claims Zion Williamson Received Improper Benefits Prior To Enrolling At Duke
A new filing in an ongoing lawsuit between Zion Williamson and his former marketing agents claims that Williamson and/or his family received improper benefits before he ever enroll
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A new filing in an ongoing lawsuit between Zion Williamson and his former marketing agents claims that Williamson and/or his family received improper benefits before he ever enrolled at Duke University.
“Recent filings in Bowen vs. Adidas, et al., Case No. 18-CV3118, pending in the United States District Court, District of South Carolina, have revealed new evidence that, prior to his enrollment at Duke University, Williamson and/or his family received improper monies and/or improper benefits from an Adidas representative named Chris Rivers,” states the filing. “These discovery documents identify a series of payments made between November of 2016 through September of 2017 by Chris Rivers to Zion Williamson’s stepfather Lee Anderson on Zion Williamson’s behalf.”
The motion attaches responses to interrogatories in the referenced case as an exhibit. Of note, the response to Interrogatory 7 lists a number of “potential transfers” from Rivers to Anderson, beginning on November 14, 2016 through September 12, 2017, as well as “other potential transfers that may have occurred,” including a transfer of $1,000 that Rivers may have made to the Williamson family. In the response, Adidas claims that it “does not know the specific purpose of these transfers.”
The motion goes on to state that documentation exists that indicate Williamson received personal security services during his high school basketball games and that airfare purchases were made for Williamson’s family members. Another exhibit, a deposition transcript from witness Daniel R. Cutler’s testimony taken under oath, is attached to support this claim. Cutler is currently a Senior Manager of Athlete Marketing at BioSteel and previously served as Sports Marketing Manager at Adidas.
This is coming out now because Williamson’s former agents have been trying to earn commissions they claim are due from marketing monies earned by Williamson. Williamson’s strongest defense to date has been that the former marketing agents were not properly licensed in the State of North Carolina and are barred from receiving any commissions as a result of their failure to register. However, if Williamson received benefits prior to enrolling at Duke, which the former agents now allege, then the stated theory is that Williamson could never have been deemed a “student-athlete” while in college and thus the agents did not need to be properly licensed in the State of North Carolina to recruit Williamson and sign him as a client.
