The NBA may be considering mandatory nondisclosure agreements to protect their most vulnerable players.
The league is in the midst of a PR nightmare involving at least three elite players: Zion Williamson (center), Anthony Edwards (right) and Josh Giddey (not pictured).
Williamson, 23, was recently put on blast by his ex-girlfriend Moriah Mills, who accused the New Orleans Pelicans star of fathering a child with an escort while they were still together.
Edwards, a 22-year-old guard with the Minnesota Timberwolves, was forced to issue a public apology after he pressured an Instagram model to abort his unwanted child.
“All women should be supported and empowered to make their own decisions about their bodies and what is best for them. I am handling my personal matters privately and will not be commenting on them any further at this time,” he wrote.
And 21-year-old Josh Giddey, a guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, is under investigation amid allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with an underage minor.
The three scandals threaten to undermine the NBA’s carefully cultivated family-oriented reputation.
The NBA may consider forcing players to get NDAs when hooking up with women on the road.
One sports attorney told Deadspin.com that she advises her athlete clients to get signed NDAs.
“(NDAs) ultimately create a legally formed relationship that one uses to protect ideas and, in these cases, information from being shared with others,” said Kimberly K. Haynes, CEO of a law firm that specializes in dealing with athletes and entertainers.
“While breaching an NDA can bring potential lawsuits or monetary penalties, a misconception is that they are 100 percent ironclad,” Haynes added. “If for some reason the information exposed is already out in the public domain, they can be hard to litigate.”
Though NDAs are not always ironclad, they are invaluable tools to keep athletes off gossip blogs.
