Zion Williamson cannot catch a break as his family is sued for failure to repay a $2,000,000 loan
New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson's tumultuous offseason continued with his family getting sued over a failure to repay a $2 million loan. The Williamson family issued that loan from tech company Ankr PBC to fund their real estate and family business needs.
Williamson's stepfather, Lee Anderson, was the focal point of this business deal. The former had Anderson negotiate a sponsorship with Ankr in May 2021. Here's what the lawsuit said about this (via 4WWL):
"While negotiations were proceeding, Ankr provided a variety of services for the benefit of Williamson, coordinated through Anderson. Ankr organized local media for community events and identified a physical trainer and a personal chef to provide services for Williamson.
"Ankr coordinated these arrangements directly with Anderson for Williamson’s benefit. Ankr also witnessed Anderson negotiating business deals with other prospective partners for the benefit of Williamson."
The first payment Anderson asked for was worth $150,000, which Ankr paid on June 9, 2021. Anderson cited that the payment was required for negotiating Williamson's business partnership with Ankr.
A couple of months later, Lee Anderson asked for a loan worth $2 million. The two parties reached an oral agreement over the repayment of the loan after the tech company processed the amount in September 2021.
Ankr set the due date for August 22, 2022. The lawsuit also stated that no loan documents were prepared or signed. Anderson and Zion Williamson requested an extension of two weeks to repay the loan.
On April 25th, 2023, Anderson paid $500,000 while informing Ankr he would repay the rest by July 7th, 2023. On July 24th, 2023, Ankr sent a series of payoff letters for the outstanding payment of $1,839,273.84.
The excerpts from the lawsuit were resourced from 4WWL.
Lawsuit states Lee Anderson claimed Zion Williamson would not do business with Ankr if loan wasn't processed immediately
ESPN has added more information regarding the lawsuit issued to Zion Williamson and his family. The lawsuit stated that Lee Anderson claimed the family urgently needed the loan. Here's what the lawsuit said:
"Anderson represented that the loan was urgently needed, as the family had taken on expensive investments including the purchase of certain real estate in New Orleans and could not meet their obligations due to the temporary suspension of payments from Williamson's sponsorship deals resulting from an injury."
The lawsuit also mentioned Anderson claiming that the Pelicans star would not form a business relationship with Ankr if the loan didn't process immediately.
Ankr and Lee Anderson entered a forbearance agreement, which said the company would not sue Zion Williamson and his family if they received repayment of $500,000 by April 25th and the rest by July 6th.
As mentioned above, the tech company received a repayment of $500,000 in due time, but $300,000 covered the loan's interest amount, while the $1.8 million remained unpaid.
Click here to read ESPN's report.