Markelle Fultz, Kyle Kuzma Alleged to Have Received Payments in Corruption Trial
Financial planner Munish Sood testified Wednesday that he paid associates of Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz and Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma while they were in college.
According to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports, Sood appeared in court and said he gave a $30,000 loan to one of Fultz's associates and paid Kuzma's associate an undisclosed amount.
Fultz spent the 2016-17 season at the University of Washington, while Kuzma played at the University of Utah from 2014-17.
In August, Sood pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud and travel act offenses, payments of bribes to an agent of a federally funded organization and wire fraud conspiracy, per ESPN's Mark Schlabach.
Sood was one of 10 men arrested in 2017 amid the FBI's probe into bribery and corruption in college basketball.
The 76ers traded up in the 2017 NBA draft to select Fultz with the No. 1 overall pick after one standout season at Washington.
A shoulder injury limited him to 14 regular-season games as a rookie, and he averaged just 7.1 points, 3.8 assists and 3.1 rebounds per contest.
The Brooklyn Nets took Kuzma with the No. 27 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft before trading him and center Brook Lopez to the Lakers for guard D'Angelo Russell and center Timofey Mozgov.
Kuzma was named to the 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie Team after averaging 16.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Per Alaa Abdeldaiem of SI.com, Sood said he paid the associates of Fultz and Kuzma in order to influence their decision to choose him as their financial adviser once they went pro.
