While everyone else is celebrating Zion Williamson being the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft this year, Williamson is dealing with a countersuit from his former agency, according to CNN.
It all began earlier this month when Williamson sued Prime Sports Marketing, LLC. and its president, Gina Ford, in North Carolina, accusing them of misleading him to sign an agency contract. Williamson claims he took the right steps to void the contract he signed with Prime Sports, and he only sued to get a court ruling that declares his contract null and void. He took the step because he signed with Creative Artists Agency to negotiate both his employment with the New Orleans Pelicans and any endorsement or marketing opportunities.
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He notified Prime Sports Marketing a day after signing with CAA that he would like to terminate their contract together.
Prime Sports Marketing filed the countersuit because it believes Williamson breached his contract because he willingly signed it. Gina Ford, president of Prime Sports Marketing believes that Williamson along with CAA is trying to steal her work. Ford claims that she had notable companies lined up for Williamson like Puma, EA Sports and more.
To further explain Williamson's side of the lawsuit, he claims that due to the time that he was signed that he is protected by a North Carolina law that protects student athletes from dishonest agents. The law is called the Uniform Athlete Agent Act.
Ford is not a registered player agent with the National Basketball Players Association, Williamson's lawsuit says, and that means she is not considered a certified agent in the NCAA and is not licensed by the NCAA. By not registering with the North Carolina Secretary of State's Office before dealing with Williamson while he was an amateur athlete, Ford broke the UAAA, according to Williamson, which allows Williamson to cancel the contract.
But in her countersuit, Ford claims the UAAA no longer applied to Williamson at the point that she signed him, because he forfeited his NCAA eligibility and no longer intended to compete as a college athlete. Ford argues that Williamson made it clear he was not coming back to play college basketball.
Legal analysts from CNN believe that the court will favor Ford and that Williamson will have to pay up.