PORTLAND, Ore. — One day after his arrest on charges that he tried to extort millions of dollars from Nike, attorney Michael Avenatti unleashed new accusations against the sportswear giant in a series of tweets Tuesday morning.
Avenatti claims Nike paid University of Oregon basketball star Bol Bol and “his handlers” “large sums” of money.
Avenatti also said Nike paid the mother of NBA rookie and former University of Arizona basketball star DeAndre Ayton $10,000.
“The receipts are clear as day. A lot of people at Nike will have to account for their criminal conduct,” Avenatti tweeted.
Nike has not responded to his claims.
Avenatti, 48, allegedly threatened to hold a news conference last week on the eve of Nike's quarterly earnings call and the start of the NCAA tournament to announce allegations of misconduct by Nike employees. Prosecutors said Avenatti approached Nike last week and threatened to expose rules violations involving an amateur youth team sponsored by the company unless it paid him up to $25 million.
Avenatti was released on $300,000 bond after a brief court appearance in New York on Monday.
Greg Rossiter, global communications director for Nike, on Monday sent KGW a response to Avenatti's charges, saying the company “will not be extorted.”
"Nike has been cooperating with the government’s investigation into NCAA basketball for over a year. When Nike became aware of this matter, Nike immediately reported it to federal prosecutors,” said Rossiter.
Avenatti on Twitter disputed Nike’s cooperation with the NCAA investigation.