Michael Avenatti, the celebrity lawyer who gained notoriety over the last year for his involvement in adult film actress Stormy Daniels’ lawsuit against Donald Trump, has spent his time recently alleging Nike of corruption. Avenatti has used his Twitter account to go after the company, along with college basketball players who suited up for Nike-sponsored programs, like Deandre Ayton and Bol Bol.
The latest target for Avenatti: Duke and its superstar freshman, Zion Williamson. In a series of tweets, Avenatti alleged that Nike arranged for Williamson’s mother, Sharonda Sampson, to get paid for “consulting services.” In exchange, the AP Player of the Year was allegedly pushed to Durham.
.@DukeMBB – About this denial by Coach K the other day relating to payments by Nike…Can you please ask Zion Williamson’s mother – Sharonda Sampson – whether she was paid by @nike for bogus “consulting services” in 2016/17 as part of a Nike bribe to get Zion to go to Duke? Thx.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 6, 2019
I almost forgot – long day – @DukeMBB can you also have your close friends at @Nike check their Nike Vendor Portal for payments to “Sharonda Sampson Consulting”. Just search 2016 to the present. Appreciate it.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 6, 2019
It’s not the first time Avenatti has tweeted about the program, as he ominously posted “And Duke…” to his Twitter account in March. When asked about the tweet, Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said “there’s nothing there.” As for the latest allegations, Duke athletic director Kevin White told The Chronicle that it is being investigated.
“We are aware of the allegation and, as we would with any compliance matter, are looking into it. Duke is fully committed to compliance with all NCAA rules and regulations,” White wrote. “Every student athlete at Duke is reviewed to ensure their eligibility. With regard to men’s basketball: all recruits and their families are thoroughly vetted by Duke in collaboration with the NCAA through the Eligibility Center’s amateurism certification process.”
Avenatti’s motives for taking on Nike like this, along with whether this turns into an adidas-like scandal, both remain to be seen. Regardless, if anything that happened broke NCAA rules or federal laws, kudos to Duke and/or Nike for what was inarguably a smart business decision by doing the always-sinister act of compensating a teenager for their services in generating billions of dollars in revenue.
