Originally Posted by
Stray Gator
First of all, to be quite fair, I believe you did more than merely "suggest" that Zion "made a bad decision." You charged him flatly with "making a series of incredibly foolish choices," and then reiterated that these were "pretty clearly a foolish series of decisions." If someone similarly situated expressed that judgment about some of your business decisions -- basically calling you a fool -- I don't think it would be unreasonable for you to consider that a form of condemnation; and if that person broadcast their conclusion without knowledge of the specific circumstances under which you made those decisions, you might well regard it as quite unfair. (It merits noting that I'm not the only person posting in this thread who interpreted your comments as a denigration of Zion.)
Second, in the same message, you stated that you were "very puzzled how Duke didn't help him make better choices," and then in a subsequent post you characterized this situation as "a generational prospect making a 9+ figure decision under the close guidance of a top-tier basketball program like Duke." (Emphasis added.) Since you deny that your opinion about Zion's decision making and Duke's role in that process rests on any assumptions, I'd be interested in learning more about the source and substance of your information regarding the "close guidance" Zion received from the Duke basketball program or Coach K individually when making his decisions in this matter. Correct me if I'm mistaken or if I missed the report, but so far as I'm aware there's been no indication that Zion ever conferred with anyone in the Duke basketball program before signing the contracts at issue in this litigation.
Finally, you've said that you are "puzzled" by Zion's decisions to sign successive contracts with different agents, which you describe as "difficult to understand" and characterize as "unfathomable" and "baffling given the circumstances." But there's the rub: At this point, you can't possibly know the factual circumstances that prompted Zion to sign these contracts. It's certainly easy to say, when viewed in retrospect, that Zion made a "bad decision" or a "poor choice" to sign the first contract with Gina Ford. But I don't believe it's so difficult to comprehend how he could have been led to sign the contract when you consider his age and personality and the potential influence of family members.
Haven't we all seen examples of young people who made bad decisions or poor choices because they trusted their family members, or wanted to please their family members, or simply didn't have the heart to say "No" when a family member asked them to do something? (I think Duke basketball fans can conjure up an example from recent history.) To me, at least, it requires no great leaps of the imagination to envision how such circumstances, and particularly the timing and manner of presentation, could have led to the unfortunate situation that now confronts Zion in this case. And though it now appears, with the benefit of hindsight, to have been unwise or even foolish for Zion to sign the first contract, I'd be hesitant without more information to disparage his actions as unfathomable or baffling.
Stray, I admire you for trying to enforce a standard of "consistency" on other posters across multiple posts. Few of us would meet that standard.
Maybe Zion is super smart. Perhaps he signed a contract only at the urging of others, but knew, based on advice from Duke or elsewhere, that the rep, Ms. Ford, was not qualified to be a sports agent in the state of NC. Then he went big time with CAA. Of course, he will have to go through some legal hoops and will probably surrender some bucks. But, hey, I'm with him -- $100 million and $95 million look pretty much the same to me.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013