New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson has been accused of taking illegal benefits during his time at Duke.
According to a Sunday report from ESPN, the NBA star rookie is being sued by Gina Ford and Prime Sports Marketing after terminating his deal with them. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
As part of the lawsuit, Ford wants Williamson to admit that his father and stepfather “demanded and received gifts and economic benefits from persons acting on behalf of Duke University (directly and/or indirectly) to influence [Williamson] to attend Duke University to play basketball.”
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They also want the basketball phenom to admit he “demanded and received gifts” from Nike and Adidas. On top of all of that, the lawsuit also seeks for Williamson to admit that his family took “benefits” from an agent prior to him playing for the Blue Devils.
More or less, the entire lawsuit seeks to prove Williamson took benefits under the table and in complete violation of NCAA rules. If it’s proven in court, it’d be a million times bigger than the college basketball corruption case with the FBI we already went through.
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This might shock all of you given my track record of hating Duke, but I couldn’t care less if Williamson took money to play for Duke.
I couldn’t care less if he took money from an agent, boosters or a random guy in the cafeteria. Let’s not forget, the NCAA is on the verge of making this stuff okay for athletes to do.
If you’re looking for me to be outraged at Williamson, you’re looking in the wrong place. Yes, I hate Duke, but let’s not pretend like Zion doesn’t deserve to get paid.
He spent his only year at Duke as the face of college basketball in America. The idea he shouldn’t make a dollar or two is laughable.
We’ll see what happens with the civil suit, but I won’t care one bit if he took money. Welcome to the world of college sports. It’s been happening for decades, and that’s the reality of the situation.
He should do what it takes to get paid. It’s that simple.