Latest Character in Zion Williamson Lawsuit Drama Has Controversial Past
The Zion Williamson lawsuit introduced a new character last week. Lawyers for Williamson’s former agent, Gina Ford, introduced an affidavit claiming that Slavko Duric gave the former Duke star and his stepfather $400,000 in October of 2018, before he’d played a game for the Blue Devils.
Williamson’s legal team shot holes in the evidence, pointing out a seemingly fake photo of Williamson’s driver’s license which had his height and weight erroneously swapped, as well as issues with the player’s signature. They also claimed that Duric had tried a similar scam, with forged contracts, with NBA star Luka Doncic two years ago.
SI’s Pat Forde is familiar with Duric and ran down the agent’s controversial past in a column for SI.com.
“I was involved in some stuff 20 years ago,” Duric acknowledged to Forde.
Duric was involved with four Nigerian basketball prospects in the late 1990s, with the players later claiming they were tricked into signing contracts that endangered their college eligibility.
Duric also admitted taking Final Four tickets from coaches in his role as middleman for one of the players.
“Several coaches furnishing me with a lot Final Four tickets,” Duric told Forde. “Like, a lot. There were more than a dozen coaches who handed me less than a bunch and more than a few. And you can imagine what I did with them.”
While Forde paints a negative picture of the aspiring agent, saying, “20 years after that Nigerian drama, Slavko Duric is still out there looking for the next hustle,” Duric claims that this latest story is true—that he really did make a payment to Team Zion, or at least people claiming to be members of Williamson’s inner circle.
“I tried to do something I would characterize as outside the lines,” Duric said. “I allegedly was involved early. I was at the front of the line through a person who said he knew the family. Somebody who said he was [Williamson's stepdad] Lee Anderson spoke with me.”
Duric also claimed he was the victim of a con job and he’s out the money he thought was securing him an opportunity to represent Williamson.
Forde has little sympathy.
“Take Slavko Duric’s greatest hits and you have an idea of what happens on the periphery of basketball, where players are commoditized early and families can be manipulated from all angles,” he wrote. “And the hustlers just hang around, waiting for the next opportunity.”
