Attorneys representing lawyer Michael Avenatti filed a court motion on Wednesday alleging that a Nike employee had at least approved under-the-table payments to former Duke star forward Zion Williamson and former Indiana guard Romeo Langford when the two were still in high school in February 2017, according to ESPN's Mark Schlabach.
This motion alleged the approved offer to Williamson was $35,000, while Langford's was $20,000 — amounts that were discovered among “text messages, e-mails and other documents from 2016-17… proving that Nike executives had arranged for and concealed payments, often in cash, to amateur basketball players and their families and ‘handlers,'” as was filed in U.S. District Court in New York.
There is no immediate evidence that these offers or payments were made to Williamson, Langford or to their respective families:
“Nike will not respond to the allegations of an individual facing federal charges of fraud and extortion,” the shoe and apparel magnate said in a statement. “Nike will continue its cooperation with the government's investigation into grassroots basketball and the related extortion case.”
Williamson was a one-and-done star at Duke, which propelled him to be the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans, while Langford was another player to leave after his freshman year at Indiana, taken in the lottery with the No. 14 pick by the Boston Celtics.
Avenatti was arrested and charged by federal prosecutors in March with an extortion attempt to take $25 million from Nike with threats to expose its alleged improper payments to high-profile players in its grassroots basketball league: EYBL.
The lawyer pleaded not guilty and has since asked his lawyers to ask a federal judge to dismiss the charges on grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution:
“The evidence shows I should have never been arrested, let alone charged,” Avenatti said on Wednesday. “I was targeted. Nike, Zion, Duke and many others have a lot of explaining to do.”
It's worth noting Williamson recently signed a multi-year deal to become Jordan Brand's newest athlete, while Langford remains unsigned by a shoe brand going into his rookie season.
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