Michael Avenatti Accuses Nike Executive Of Bribing High School Basketball Players
Michael Avenatti is a bit of a national joke at this point, but on Friday he brought specifics, naming names as it relates to Nike basketball. Avenatti went on Twitter and accused Nike executive, Carlton DeBose, of bribing high school basketball players to attend Nike-sponsored colleges.
Here’s the thread from Twitter:
1/3 - Carlton DeBose, a Nike executive, has bribed over 100 high school players over the last 4 years to play college basketball at colleges affiliated with Nike as opposed to other schools. He has used bogus invoices and countless coaches to further the scheme & deliver the $...
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 5, 2019
2/3 - Nike’s most senior execs knew about it and looked the other way, as did many of the colleges. Nike also undertook large efforts to hide it from the NCAA & federal investigators. Some colleges lost out on some of the best high school recruits because of Nike’s bribes...
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 5, 2019
3/3 - If I am lying, @nike should issue a stmt immediately stating no such payments were ever made and calling me out. They won’t because they know it is 100% true and they covered-up for years.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 5, 2019
Was it fair for some colleges to lose out on recruits because Nike had bribed the recruits with illegal payments so they would play at other “Nike” schools? Was it fair for Nike to take advantage of the players and their families by paying the bribes and then demanding loyalty?
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 5, 2019
It’s worth noting that Avenatti has been charged with attempting to extort Nike for up to $25 million related to the evidence he had on the company. He has also been indicted for wire fraud and bank fraud in a separate case.
The guy doesn’t have a ton of credibility but if he can produce documentation of all these claims it would be a game-changer. I mean, Nike sponsors a ton of top basketball schools, including Duke, North Carolina, Villanova, Michigan State and Kentucky to name a few. Any of those schools being caught up in this would be enormous for the sport.
We’ll see how this plays out.