Williamson's family told Prime Sports in late May that they were ending the agreementnbae/getty images
Zion Williamson is "suing to enforce his termination of an agreement he signed with a Florida marketing company, maintaining their deal was unlawful under North Carolina law," according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. A suit filed in federal court in North Carolina on Thursday indicates Williamson, the likely No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, "signed a marketing deal with Gina Ford and Prime Sports on April 20, five days after he had declared his intention to enter the NBA draft." That agreement included a "clause that it could not be terminated for five years." Williamson's family told Ford and Prime Sports on May 31 that it was "ending the agreement." The agency responded by saying that if Williamson "terminated the deal, they would sue for damages" in excess of $100M. Williamson has since "signed with CAA Sports for his contractual and marketing representation" (ESPN.com, 6/13). In Durham, Steve Wiseman notes that Williamson's attorneys believe the agreement is "null and void because it wasn't in accordance" with North Carolina's Uniform Athlete-Agent Act. The suit claims that neither Prime Sports nor Ford "were registered agents" in the state or with the NBPA (Durham HERALD-SUN, 6/14). The five-year contract Williamson signed with Prime Sports "did not contain notice that he would lose his college eligibility upon signing, and did not contain a disclaimer allowing him 14 days to cancel." Both are required under North Carolina law (AP, 6/13).
