Rusty Costanza/Connected Press
Slavko Duric, a Canadian marketer who Zion Williamson‘s family alleges solid a representation settlement with the Pelicans megastar whereas he used to be in excessive college, stated he used to be scammed out of $100,000 by somebody he believed used to be shut to the family.
“I tried to assemble one thing I would signify as outdoors the lines,” Duric beneficial Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated. “I allegedly used to be enthusiastic early. I was at the entrance of the line by a one who stated he knew the family. Somebody who stated he used to be [Williamson’s stepdad] Lee Anderson spoke with me. Somebody who stated they were [family friend] Chubby Wells spoke with me a dozen times.”
Duric would no longer identify the person that stated they were linked to Williamson’s family. He stated as soon as he wired over the $100,000, all contact with the folks purporting to be linked to Williamson stopped.
“I’ve been the sufferer of a con job by any individual acting luxuriate in they were within the internal circle [with Williamson],” Duric stated. “I secure by no diagram spoken to Zion Williamson, and any individual who purported themselves as being a member of Zion’s internal circle used to be an impostor.
“If truth be told, I am in a fog. I assemble know that I am out 100 vast.”
Williamson and Gina Ford are for the time being embroiled in a lawsuit that capabilities allegations Williamson’s stepfather, Lee Anderson, took $400,000 in alternate for an settlement on future representation. Ford sued Williamson for breach of contract in 2019 after he terminated their representation settlement—asserting it used to be illegal below North Carolina regulation—to signal with Artistic Arts Company.
As renowned by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Ford’s agency isn’t very any longer certified by the NBPA, neither is it registered in North Carolina or Florida as an athlete representation agency.
Most up-to-date court filings embrace allegations Duric helped conspire to pay Williamson’s family $400,000, which would possibly perhaps well presumably secure ended his student-athlete eligibility. If the paperwork are verified, it would toughen Ford’s case because Williamson have not got been a student-athlete at the time of their settlement.
Alternatively, Williamson’s attorney, Jeffrey Klein, stated the paperwork are forgeries. They embrace an alleged replica of Williamson’s driver’s license that reportedly facets several errors.
