Avenatti Raises The Stakes, Accuses Coach K Of Paying Players
You’d think he was busy enough with his own problems but apparently not.
After Duke said Friday that an outside investigation had found no evidence that Zion Williamson had taken money from Nike, indicted attorney Michael Avenatti raised the stakes and directly accused Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski of paying players:
“I never heard from anyone associated with Duke in connection with my allegations or any investigation. I was never asked a single question. I was never asked what information or documents that I was aware of. Who the hell conducted this investigation? Inspector Clouseau? The documents and the hard evidence do not lie. Zion Williamson was paid to attend Duke. Coach K has made and facilitated payments to players for years. And when the truth comes out -- and eventually it will -- Coach K and Duke’s reputation will be forever and rightfully tarnished.”
Before we get too far into this let’s look again at who Michael Avenatti is.
- This is a guy who represented Stormy Daniels in her case against President Donald Trump and who was later indicted for allegedly skimming money from her book deal to his own bank account (he is accused of forging her signature and taking $300,000). Here are the indictments from the Southern District of New York.
- This is a guy who is indicted on 36 counts basically involving fraud and embezzlement in Los Angeles, including allegedly keeping money that was supposed to go to a parapalegic client.
- This is a guy who is also accused of significant tax evasion.
- This is a guy who is also indicted for allegedly attempting to extort $20 million from Nike, which is where all the Zion/Coach K stuff started.
Given the sort of character Avenatti has publicly and privately demonstrated, why in the world would Duke - or anyone - bother to ask him his opinion on anything? Well, to be fair, he certainly seems to have mastered a few things, but it’s probably better not to ask how to do that stuff. Look where it’s landed him.
So leaving the teenager out of it as much as possible. , which seems decent, who’s on the other side of this?
Mike Krzyzewski was raised by rigidly honest people. The lessons he learned from them were reinforced at West Point where he lived by a strict honor code. He has always been brutally honest, sometimes painfully so.
Being what Avenatti claims he is would mean rejecting what he treasures most from his parents and his military education.
On a more basic level, it just doesn’t make sense. If he were going to pay players, he would have done it at the beginning of his career when he was a young coach with young children and an uncertain future. Only a few people thought much of Mike Krzyzewski in the early 1980’s. It’s just a fact. Now? He’s at the very pinnacle of his profession. Why would he cheat now?
He could leave Duke tomorrow for literally any job in basketball anywhere in the world. Coach, GM, director - anything. And he could name his price (Krzyzewski’s salary at Duke has risen dramatically from the $40,000 he signed for in 1980 but here’s a little understood fact: the man works for far less than his market value. Far less).
Let’s be clear about this. We hold Mike Krzyewski in high regard. He has always seemed like a man of good character. He’s certainly not perfect - none of us are - but he hasn’t gotten where he’s gotten by cutting corners and cheating. He would have failed a long time ago.
And Michael Avenatti? Has anyone said a word about his good character? Quite the opposite, including more than one of his clients.
This guy has a big mouth and tosses out big accusations and allegations. The real shame of it is that he can taint people in this manner.
He goes on to basically dare Krzyzewski to file a defamation suit, but here’s an easier idea. Instead of escalating, why doesn’t Avenatti just put it all out there?
Instead of strafing Krzyzewski’s character, instead of trying to taunt him into filing a lawsuit, which would conveniently allow Avennati to control the narrative again, why not just show what you’ve got? Why “eventually?” Eventually is the key word in his statement. Avenatti seems himself as bold and aggressive, a man who talked not too long ago of running for president. He wants to punch you in the nose. Michael Avenatti doesn’t do eventually. Avenatti pushes for now.
And that’s the thing.
At his most elemental, Avenatti is a man of low character and a bully.
We’ve been polite and said that everything is alleged, which is still is, until he is convicted, which he expect he will be.
Not everyone is as polite though. Starr Indemnity & Liability Company sold him insurance for an airplane that is part of the case against him.
Starr wants to rescind coverage for the plane, saying this: “Starr Aviation would not have issued the policies if it had known the aircraft had been purchased with embezzled funds or the funds used to purchase the policies had been acquired through a bankruptcy fraud.” (Our emphasis).
There is no alleged there, so let’s see if Avenatti files suit against Starr for defamation. Because if he’s innocent, why wouldn’t he? The company has just accused him of embezzlement and fraud. Why not go after them too? Why not punch them in the nose?
The saying is that the wheels of justice turn slow and for the most part that’s a good thing. It should be a deliberate approach.
They do turn however, and we saw a stat recently that said that federal courts have something like a 99% conviction rate.
In other words, his odds are not good and no jury is going to like the idea of stealing from someone who is paralyzed. As an attorney he knows how that will come across.
As noted, the federal conviction rate is extraordinarily high. Avenatti’s chances of escaping conviction are not good. Someday soon, this man who is so happy to cast aspersions on others is going to be standing in front a judge pleading for leniency. And at that point, we will witness one of the best and saddest things in life: a bully exposed and brought low, forced to beg for mercy.
We’re not sure he’s going to find much.
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