Zion Williamson Case Finally Ends?

The 4th Circuit recently closed down a long running legal case involving the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson and a problematic sports agent. I followed this case with particular interest because Williamson played his one year of college basketball at Duke (where I matriculated a long time ago) and I was an NFL agent for several decades. 

This case had all of the elements that make sports agency, and particularly sports agency representing college players about to turn pro, such a messy business.  Williamson was heavily recruited out of high school and widely identified as a potential superstar in the NBA. Or, in layman's terms, a “cash cow.” These kinds of players attract all the wrong attention as agents vie for their business and the potential to make millions. Frequently this vying involves under-the-table cash payments to the player, his family, his friends, or anyone else the agent thinks is likely to help secure the business. And it often involves an unseemly haste to get ink on a deal, often in violation of school recruiting policy and occasionally state law. 

That's what happened here. Williamson signed an agreement with a sports agent who was not licensed to do business in North Carolina. Mistake one. The agent had Williamson sign a representation agreement that did not comply with the requirements of North Carolina law. Mistake two. Court filings indicated that the agent sent Williamson's father $100,000 as an advance on their sports marketing agreement, and obviously as part of an inducement to sign. Mistake three. 

Then Williamson backed out of the agreement and signed with somebody else. The agent sued Williamson for $100 million in federal court. Mistake four. The trial court quickly ruled that the agent's failure to comply with even the most basic elements of North Carolina law rendered her agreement with Williamson void and denied her any recovery of the money she allegedly paid Williamson's father. That decision was upheld on appeal, here.

Lots of morals to this story. I guess the first is not to let greed override your judgment in pursuing that golden calf. That's very likely what happened here- the rush to get to Williamson and sign him to a multi-year agreement that effectively guaranteed a huge payoff for the agent caused her to simply ignore basic legal requirements, about which I'm sure she was aware. Now she's out the 100 grand, her attorney's fees, and very likely her reputation as someone who knows what she's doing. Given how every other sports agent will use this little episode against her, she's likely thinking of some other line of marketing work in the near future.