Zion Williamson & Stepfather Allegedly Received $400,000 During Recruitment To Duke According To Affidavit

Zion Williamson was one of the most sought after high school basketball recruits during the 2018 school year. He went on to play for the Duke Blue Devils and get drafted first overall in the NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans. In a recent legal battle with marketing agent Gina Ford, she wanted Willamson to admit that he received money during his recruitment to Duke. According to an affidavit, it seems that might have been possible.

On Thursday, a court document detailed that Williamson and his stepfather received an alleged $400,000 prior to committing to Duke. The affidavit was filed by Ford and her attorneys, who initially sued the 20-year-old Williamson for $100 million after he left her company, Prime Marketing Sports, for CAA. Ford has been trying to prove that Williamson was never able to play at Duke per NCAA rules, which was Williamson’s initial out of his agreement with Ford, and force him to settle.

According to the affidavit, Williamson and his stepfather had demanded the $400,000 for Williamson to join a marketing group, prior to his time at Duke, which had made him ineligible to play for Duke. The affidavit also notes that Williamson and his family accepted housing and three luxury cars from Duke alumni.

In a statement, Williamson’s lawyer called the documents in question fake. “The alleged ‘agreements’ and driver’s license attached to these papers are fraudulent, and neither Mr. Williamson nor his family know these individuals nor had any dealings with them. We had previously alerted Ms. Ford’s lawyers to both this fact and that we had previously reported the documents to law enforcement as forgeries, but they chose to go ahead with another frivolous filing anyway. This is a desperate and irresponsible attempt to smear Mr. Williamson at the very time he has the opportunity to live his dream of playing professional basketball.”

The new witness who came forward is Donald Kreiss. He contacted Gina Ford’s attorneys, and then signed a 38-page affidavit which attached a copy of a marketing agreement between Zion Williamson and a Canadian entity called “Maximum Management Group,” headed by Zlavko Duric.

— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) July 9, 2020

This is the “Letter of Declaration” that Zion Williamson and his stepfather supposedly signed in Dec. 2019 acknowledging the $400K loan made by Slavko Duric in Oct. 2018 (when still enrolled in Duke), along with his driver’s license for authentication.

Real or fake?

You decide. pic.twitter.com/u7qo1U7DQI

— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) July 9, 2020

Williamson is preparing to participate in the NBA’s season restart for the Pelicans in Walt Disney World, but it seems that his legal battles are far from over.