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However, by February 2012, Zigomanis had been sent down to the minors. Additionally, nude pictures of himself that he had taken and sent to his then-girlfriend before signing the contract had somehow surfaced on the internet, court records show. The nude pictures — they didn’t show his face — caused a minor media scandal.

D’Angelo decided to cancel its contract with him, according to court records. Zigomanis sued.

At trial, D’Angelo pointed to a “morals clause” that allowed it to terminate the deal if the “athlete commits any act which shocks, insults, or offends the community, or which has the effect of ridiculing public morals and decency.” The company argued publication of the photographs undermined Zigomanis’ positive image as a “brand ambassador” and his role promoting the company.

Zigomanis insisted he had fulfilled the terms of the contract, although he admitted he had lied about the photographs when his coach asked if they were of him.

In November 2016, Superior Court Justice David Stinson sided with the Zigomanis. Among other things, Stinson found the contract required the player to promote D’Angelo’s product, not act as a brand ambassador.

In any event, Stinson found, the private transmission of nude photographs within a relationship did not breach the morals clause. The judge also decided the photograph events had occurred before the player and company inked the deal, and the clause was not retrospective.