Zion Williamson has received big news in recent hours after he was granted a ruling in his favor in the millionaire lawsuit filed against the New Orleans Pelicans player in 2019. It all started when Williamson sued Prime Sports Marketing and Ford in June 2019, claiming they persuade him into signing a marketing contract he really couldn’t understand.
Following that, Zion received a big response, with Ford and Prime Sports Marketing suing him for $100 million, claiming breach of contract. There were months of legal battles with new information coming to life every day until the judge finally revealed the verdict. U.S. District Court Judge Loretta C. Biggs has decided to void Williamson’s contract with the agency.
Biggs stated that the agency failed to meet the requirements listed under the Uniform Athlete Agents Act of North Carolina, one of the strongest reasons that Zion’s lawyers use against Gina Ford and his agency.
Specifically, Biggs ruled that Williamson was a student-athlete at Duke at the time he signed the marketing agreement with Ford’s company; he had not been declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA; Ford was not a certified agent in North Carolina; the agreement did not include the required warnings under the law; and Williamson and his family communicated to Ford that they were terminating and voiding the contract.
Zion started his NBA career involved in this situation and it’s good to know that he’s finally free. He didn’t violate any rules and now he can focus on his career. So far he’s averaging 23.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists while shooting 59.1% from the field.
“We are grateful that the Court invalidated the contract based on the merits of the case, in line with the clear, relevant requirements under North Carolina law,” Jeffrey Klein, one of Zion’s attorneys, said in a statement. “The Court confirmed that actual facts matter, which hopefully will serve as a cautionary tale for unscrupulous agents looking to prey on student athletes.”
He has been the subject of criticism in recent days due to his fitness. Recently Karl Malone urged Zion to get in shape or we would never see his potential. Perhaps this is the time when we see the great Zion Williamson that everybody expects him to become in the NBA.
