NBA player Michael Beasley has sued his former agent, claiming among other things that the agent provided benefits to his mother, while he was in high school and during his freshman year of college at Kansas State University.
If proven, Bell Sports Inc. and agent Joel Bell could be found in violation of The Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act, a federal law passed by Congress in 2004 that prohibits “providing anything of value to a student-athlete or anyone associated with the student-athlete before the student-athlete enters into an agency contract, including any consideration in the form of a loan, or acting in the capacity of a guarantor or co-guarantor for any debt.”
The lawsuit is unusual, given the fact that today’s athletes typically try to get as much as they can get, a desire that agents have frequently exploited.
In his lawsuit, Beasley feigns shock and indignation that his mother was given money in his lawsuit.
The legal battle began on Jan. 21 when Bell sued Beasley for breach of contract, claiming Beasley, a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, wrongfully terminated his representation agreement with Bell prior to signing an endorsement deal with Adidas. The agreement that Beasley signed was virtually identical to the one Bell negotiated, according to Bell.
Beasley countersued Bell last month, claiming undue influence, intentional concealment, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, civil conspiracy, negligent misrepresentation, intentional interference of prospective economic advantage, and legal malpractice.
In an extensive story, the Washington Post reported on the events that led to the legal battle (http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/michael-beasleys-lawsuit-alleges-he-received-improper-benefits/2011/10/22/gIQAn40AKM_story.html). In essence, Beasley was allegedly discovered as an 8th grader by Curtis Malone, the operator of a select basketball team called the DC Assault. Malone, who coached Beasley until he began his college career at KSU, had a friendship with Bell. Bell allegedly helped fund Malone’s program. The relationship between the two men allegedly became a factor in Malone encouraging Beasley to sign with Bell as his agent.
In his countersuit, Beasley alleged that Bell gave his mother thousands of dollars in cash and continued to funnel cash to her over the next several years. In addition, the lawsuit alleges that Bell provided free housing and a free car to Beasley’s mother when she moved to Manhattan, Kansas to be near her son. Interestingly, Beasley claimed he was unaware that his mother received the benefits. He also claimed that once he learned of the arrangement, he immediately terminated the representation agreement with Bell.
Beasley alleged in his lawsuit that Bell’s relationship with Malone and payments to his mother were “intended, ultimately, improperly to induce Beasley into executing a player agent agreement without competition from other agents.”
As for what to expect going forward in the case, Rick Karcher — Professor of Law and Dir., Center for Law and Sports, at Florida Coastal School of Law — suggested the following to Sports Litigation Alert:
“The provisions of state and federal agent statutes are designed to protect universities from violations of NCAA amateurism rules due to the conduct of third party agents; these statutes are not intended to protect, and do not apply to, professional athletes in their disputes with agents over the enforcement of their representation agreements,” said Karcher. “As far as Beasley’s tort-based counter-claims for malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, Beasley will need to be able to prove damages and it’s not clear what those would be in this case.”
Attorneys working the case are as follows: Bell is being represented by attorney Glenn C. Etelson. Malone is being represented by attorney Bill Heyman. Beasley is represented by attorney Mark A. Smith.
