Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley has filed a civil suit against a Maryland-based sports agent and Beasley’s former AAU coach, claiming they conspired to form a relationship with him since the age of 14 with the intent of retaining the rights to represent him professionally.
In the suit, which was filed in Montgomery (Md.) County Circuit Court, Beasley claimed Bell Sports Inc. president Joel Bell funded Curtis Malone’s DC Assault AAU team and that Malone then felt obligated to steer Beasley to Bell, The Washington Post reports. Beasley was selected second overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat.
The counter suit against Bell and third-party claim against Malone is in response to a Jan. 21 breach of contract suit filed by Bell Sports Inc., against Beasley, the Post reports. Bell’s suit claims Beasley wrongfully ended his representation agreement just before signing an endorsement deal with Adidas, according to the Post.
Beasley claims that while he was playing collegiality at Kansas State, Bell and Malone provided illegal benefits to his mother, Fatima Smith, who describes Malone as “Bell’s runner” in the suit, according to the Post.
The suit states that payments to Smith were “intended, ultimately, improperly to induce Beasley into executing a player agent agreement without competition from other agents,” the Post reports.
A spokesman for Malone denied Beasley’s allegations when contacted by the Post. The newspaper also reported that Bell referred all questions to his attorney, who did not respond to calls seeking comment.
The Post noted the courts must determine whether Beasley was trying to avoid paying Bell’s commission for the Adidas deal.