Michael Avenatti Alleges Zion Williamson, Deandre Ayton, More Paid by Nike

Attorney Michael Avenatti has accused Nike of providing payments to Zion Williamson, Deandre Ayton, Bol Bol and more, according to Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde, Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel.

Documents released by Avenatti—who was charged with extortion and bank and wire fraud in late March—appear to show $170,000 in cash being given to people with ties to top recruits.

Per ESPN's Mark Schlabach, Avenatti allegedly tried to extort more than $20 million from Nike "by threatening to use his ability to garner publicity to inflict substantial financial and reputational harm on the company if his demands were not met."

He has since taken to social media to make various allegations, with the accompanying documents allegedly serving as evidence.

On Friday night, Avenatti identified Williamson as someone who was involved in the scandal:

That came a little more than one week after he named Ayton and Bol as others to have allegedly received payments:

Avenatti also provided links to the documents he says back up his allegations:

Williamson led Duke to a 32-6 record and a trip to the Elite Eight while earning a number of individual honors, including being named a consensus All-American and the AP Player of the Year. The Blue Devils star is the likely No. 1 overall pick in June's draft. 

Ayton was also reported to be involved in separate pay-for-play allegations Nike competitor Adidas. 

Schlabach reported in February 2018 that an FBI wiretap caught Arizona head coach Sean Miller discussing a $100,000 payment with Christian Dawkins to ensure Ayton signed with the Wildcats.

Dawkins was sentenced to six months in prison in March after an investigation into "bribes to influence star athletes' choice of schools, shoe sponsors, agents and even tailors," per Christian Red of the Louisville Courier Journal. 

The Ayton family denied the allegations, per Anne Ryman of the Arizona Republic, and Sports Illustrated's Michael McCann also cited a source in March 2018 who said the details of the call in the ESPN report were inaccurate.

Nike has not specifically addressed the matter but did issue a statement to Yahoo Sports.

"Nike firmly believes in ethical and fair play, both in business and sports and won't be commenting further beyond our statement," Nike said.

Meanwhile, the 48-year-old Avenatti has made it clear that he intends to fight.

"For the entirety of my career, I have fought against the powerful: powerful people and powerful corporations," Avenatti told reporters after being released on $300,000 bond last month, per Schlabach. "I will never stop fighting that good fight. I am highly confident that when all of the evidence is laid bare in connection with these cases, when it is all known, when due process occurs, that I will be fully exonerated and justice will be done."