I would love to imagine a world in which I had such an insane amount of money I would pay $400,000 to settle an action I didn't actually do. Even at say $10/m a year as an NBA player, I wouldn't settle at that number for something I didn't do.
It's a shame that a seemingly good kid got himself into this situation, and I hope he learns a lesson like Julian Edelman did with his issue.
(edit: Spelled the football player's name wrong.)
Terrible that he probably did it. Per Murby’s comment, few people settle a $400K claim for a crime they didn’t commit. And the fact that this supposedly happened in the middle of an ECF where he seemed to show a ton of leadership is doubly depressing.
I can now report two sources who independently confirm that he did it. Hooray internet!
Look, I'm no attorney, but I can think of a great many situations in which people of means will pay what sounds like a lot of money to make a claim - even a frivolous claim - go away. If you know anything about the insurance business, you know that if you have liability insurance (e.g. Directors & Officers, Errors & Omissions, or just Umbrella for rich people), it's actually the insurance company that gets to decide whether to settle or fight a claim, and they'll make decisions based on pragmatic factors like how much an expected defense will cost in legal fees, which
even if they win quickly could run into six figures easily. Point is: It wouldn't shock me if the decision to settle was actually out of Bradley's hands entirely, and either way we can infer
absolutely nothing about his guilt from the fact that they settled it. If it went to trial and evidence was presented and they settled before a verdict, sure, speculate away. But it didn't, and they didn't.
Situations like Ezekiel Elliott, who was (and still may be) willing to go to the mat to vociferously protect his reputation, are frankly rare. Even a blackmail situation, where they may have just enough to not get a suit thrown out in court but they really just want money, can do far more than $400k in damage to an Avery Bradley who seeks endorsements, and who is up for Free Agency in a few months. It doesn't take much marginal push one way or the other to do him more than that in harm, even if there is absolutely nothing to the claim.