A Florida appeals court has granted New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson’s motion to block his former marketing agent’s effort to have the ex-Duke star answer questions about whether he received improper benefits before playing for the Blue Devils.
The order Wednesday shifts the focus to a separate but related case between the same litigants in federal court in North Carolina.
The Florida lawsuit, filed last summer by Prime Sports Marketing and company president Gina Ford, accused Williamson and the agency now representing him of breach of contract and seeks $100 million in damages.
That came after Williamson had filed his own lawsuit a week earlier in North Carolina to terminate a five-year contract with Prime Sports after his decision to move to Creative Artists Agency.
Ford’s attorneys had submitted questions in filings last month that included whether the Williamson or anyone on his behalf sought or accepted “money, benefits, favors or things of value” to sign with Duke. They sought answers within 30 days to establish facts under oath in the pretrial discovery process.
Attorneys for last year’s No. 1 overall NBA draft pick had argued the questions were “nothing more than a fishing expedition.” Florida circuit judge David C. Miller denied Williamson’s original stay request, but that was overturned on a temporary basis by the state appeals court, which has now made that ruling permanent, siding with Williamson attorney Jeffrey S. Klein that the federal case takes precedence.1
GOLF
PGA: Ian Poulter holed a 30-foot birdie putt and followed with a 5-iron to 4 feet for a birdie that closed out his round of 7-under 64, giving him a share of the lead in the RBC Heritage with Mark Hubbard at Hilton Head, South Carolina.
The RBC Heritage, typically a week after the Masters in April, is the second tournament since the PGA Tour returned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The top three players in the world are at Hilton Head – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas – and none broke par on a day in which 66 players in the 151-man field shot in the 60s. A year ago, only 38 players in the 132-man field opened with rounds in the 60s.
Poulter and Hubbard, who started birdie-eagle, were a shot ahead of a group that included Webb Simpson, Ryan Palmer and Viktor Hovland. Jordan Spieth had a career-best six straight birdies on his back nine and finished with seven birdies over his last eight holes for a 66.
FOOTBALL
NFL: It will be lights, cameras, Los Angeles again for “Hard Knocks” but for the first time the show will feature two franchises.
With the Rams and Chargers both moving into SoFI Stadium in Inglewood this year, HBO and NFL Films announced Thursday that the show will include both teams as they attempt to bounce back from disappointing seasons. The five-week series will premiere Aug. 11.
The two wouldn’t have been selected if they had not volunteered. Teams aren’t usually eligible if they have appeared on the show during the past 10 years (the Rams did “Hard Knocks” in 2016, their first year back in LA), or appeared in the playoffs the past two years (both were in the postseason in 2018), or have a first-year coach.
The Rams join the Cincinnati Bengals (2009, ‘13) and Dallas Cowboys (2002, ’07) as teams that have done “Hard Knocks” twice while the Chargers are making their first appearance. This will be the 15th season for the show, which started in 2001 with the Baltimore Ravens. HBO and NFL Films also announced Thursday that they have agreed to renew the series through 2024.
• Running back Dalvin Cook logged off last week from virtual team activities with the Minnesota Vikings, no longer willing to participate until he has secured a new contract.
• 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel underwent surgery after breaking a bone in his left foot during informal workouts with teammates in Tennessee.
The team says it will have a better idea of Samuel’s timetable to return once he arrives at training camp next month.
• A person with direct knowledge of the situation says All-Pro safety Jamal Adams has requested a trade from the Jets amid a contract dispute.
BASEBALL
MLB: Minnesota Twins slugger Miguel Sanó told a Dominican Republic newspaper he’s being blackmailed, having been accused of kidnapping and assault.
The Twins said Thursday they’re aware of the report in El Nuevo Diario and still trying to gathering more information about the situation surrounding Sanó, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract in January and will move to first base if and when the 2020 season begins.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and hope to have more as it becomes available,” Twins spokesman Dustin Morse said.
El Nuevo Diario reported that Odalis Ramos, a lawyer, has accused Sanó and three of his friends of kidnapping, beating and threatening to hang his client, Raudy Omar Sanchez de la Cruz, during an incident last month in San Pedro de Macoris, the hometown of the 27-year-old Sanó.
Sanó denied the accusations to the newspaper. He said Sanchez de la Cruz was involved in a sexual assault of a young relative of Sanó’s. No charges have been filed in relation to any of the accusations. The local prosecutor’s office has a hearing scheduled for June 25, El Nuevo Diario reported. Sanó told the newspaper that Ramos requested 10 million Dominican pesos, which is about $170,000 in American currency, to drop the accusations. Sanó said he would sue Ramos for 30 million pesos, or about $500,000.
Sanó bounced back from a rough 2018 season, hitting a career-high 34 homers in just 105 games last year. He also had a career-best .923 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 2019, after a belated start due to a badly cut heel he suffered during a celebration of his team’s winter league championship in the Dominican Republic.
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: Nebraska football coach Scott Frost and men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg will donate a portion of their salaries to the athletic department’s general operating fund to help offset revenue shortfalls because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The athletic department said in a statement Thursday the amount of the donations would be determined when the 2021 budget is closer to being finalized. Frost’s salary is $5 million this year. Hoiberg is set to earn $3 million.
• The Southeastern Conference is considering barring league championship events in Mississippi until the state changes its flag.
“It is past time for change to be made to the flag of the State of Mississippi,” Commissioner Greg Sankey said Thursday in a statement. “Our students deserve an opportunity to learn and compete in environments that are inclusive and welcoming to all. In the event there is no change, there will be consideration of precluding Southeastern Conference championship events from being conducted in the State of Mississippi until the flag is changed.”
The NCAA already said it would not schedule postseason events in Mississippi because of the flag that features the Confederate Battle Flag in the upper left corner.
• The University of Texas announced that 13 football players tested positive for COVID-19 or are presumed positive, and contact tracing has 10 more in isolation. Texas started bringing football players back to campus for workouts on June 8. The school has also identified four other players who tested positive for the COVID-19 antibody.
Kansas State officials reported Wednesday night that eight Wildcats athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 out of 130 tested.
SOCCER
WYNALDA FIRED: Former U.S. soccer star Eric Wynalda was fired Wednesday as coach of the Las Vegas Lights of the USL League Championship.
Wynalda, 51, was hired in October 2018 ahead of the team’s second season in the second-tier league. The team made the announcement on Twitter.
Las Vegas finished 13th among 18 teams with the Western Conference, with 11 wins, 15 losses and eight draws.
It opened this season with a 1-1 draw at San Diego, playing its first match and coached by former U.S. star Landon Donovan.
Wynalda’s American record of 34 international goals was broken by Donovan, who is tied with Clint Dempsey for the mark with 57.
That has been the only match this year for Las Vegas due to the coronavirus pandemic that caused the league to stop play.
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