Agent Defazio Resigns

Agent Resigns Under Pressure from NBA Players' Association

DeFazio' s illegal withdrawal of funds cited as the reason

Philadelphia, November 14, 2000 - Long time agent Sal DiFazio resigned as a certified player representative after the NBA Players Association charged him with improperly withdrawing approximately $1.2 million from the accounts of various players.

According to the Bergen (NJ) Record, a National Basketball Players Association spokesperson said that DiFazio "reimbursed the players after the union started its investigation." A committee proposed revoking DiFazio's certification, meaning he would not be able to negotiate player contracts, but gave him the choice of resigning. He chose resignation.

DiFazio said that the incident occurred in 1998, when an employee of his firm, Atlantic Sports Management, took the money from the players. DiFazio added that the employee was dismissed. DiFazio also stated, "This did not result out of my conduct, but out of an employee's conduct. Because it was my company, I accepted responsibility."

The situation that brought all this trouble for DiFazio stems from a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J) that was brought against him in April, 1999 by Eddie Jones, who was with the Charlotte Hornets at the time. In the suit, Jones claimed that DiFazio stole $1.5 million from his accounts. More specifically, one of DiFazio's employees, Debi Donnelly, was claimed to have stolen the money during a period of three years by transferring money from two checks worth $302,802 into the account of another player, Aaron McKie. The suit further accused her of depositing a check worth $89,500 into the account of Marc Jackson. The lawsuit did not explain how the money was withdrawn from those players' accounts. According to the lawsuit, Atlantic Sports Management and DiFazio have repaid about $960,000 to Jones. However, Jones is seeking more than $500,000 in compensatory damages and interest, plus contends that he is still owed more than $540,000.

In addition to Jones, some of DiFazio's other NBA clients have included Bryon Russell (Utah Jazz), Mark Strickland (Denver Nuggets), Luther Wright (Utah Jazz), David Benoit (Utah Jazz) and Jayson Williams (New Jersey Nets).

Nate Allen