Attorney Michael Avenatti claimed on Saturday that Nike paid bribes to more than 100 basketball players to steer them toward colleges that had Nike contracts. These are allegations from Avenatti, and none of them have been proven.
Avenatti, who had threatened to release evidence in the past, shared a batch of documents through Dropbox. He says the documents show Nike made payments to associates of former Arizona star Deandre Ayton, who now plays for the Phoenix Suns, Oregon’s Bol Bol and former UNLV player Brandon McCoy.
According to Avenatti, $83,000 in payments went to Ayton’s associates, more than $57,000 went to people connected to Bol, and $30,000 went to McCoy’s associates.
Avenatti also claimed on Twitter that the mother of Duke star Zion Williamson received “consulting” fees from Nike that were really meant to influence his decision to attend Duke. Duke said it was looking into the claim. Avenatti wrote that the evidence is now in the hands of law enforcement. He also challenged Nike to publicly say no bribes were ever paid.
It is worth noting that Avenatti has his own legal trouble. Federal prosecutors charged him last month with trying to extort more than $20 million from Nike by threatening to release damaging information. Avenatti has said the charges are baseless, and Nike has said it has been cooperating with federal investigators.
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