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Pelicans' Zion Williamson Granted Temporary Stay in Prime Sports Marketing Case
June 5, 2020
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson won't have to answer questions under oath in the Prime Sports Marketing lawsuit after being granted a temporary stay by a Florida appeals court Thursday, according to Daniel Wallach of The Athletic.
The latest order stated that "the trial court proceedings are temporarily stayed pending further of this Court."
This comes after a Florida court had previously denied his motion to stay discovery relating to eligibility, which would have required him to testify, per Darren Heitner of Sports Agent Blog.
Prime Sports Marketing and agent Gina Ford had initially filed a lawsuit against Williamson in January for breach of contract, seeking $100 million in damages.
In May, Ford alleged Williamson and his parents "demanded and received gifts, money and/or other benefits from persons on behalf of Duke University (directly and/or indirectly) to influence you to attend Duke University to play basketball."
After his motion to stay was initially denied, the NBA rookie was expected to answer whether he or anyone acting on his behalf accepted money, benefits or favors to attend Duke, to wear Nike shoes, to wear Adidas or eventually sign with CAA, per Heitner.
Williamson starred at Duke during his one year in college, becoming a consensus All-American and the National Player of the Year. After being drafted, he signed a shoe deal with Jordan Brand reportedly worth $75 million over five years, per Action Network's Darren Rovell.
