Basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal, also known as Shaq, has been embroiled in a class-action lawsuit against FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, for his promotion of the platform. However, in a recent court submission, Shaq’s legal team contested the claim that the basketball player was properly served with the court documents. Lawyers for Shaq claim that the servers hurled the documents at his car, and that they ultimately landed on the public road near his Georgia residence, arguing that this is not legally valid.
The legal battle between Shaq and FTX is just one aspect of a wider case involving several other high-profile individuals and entities, including former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, the NBA team Golden State Warriors, athletes Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Shohei Ohtani, and Naomi Osaka, and business figures Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz, Lawrence Gene Davis, and Kevin O’Leary. All of these individuals have been named as defendants in the Miami-based case.
According to the lawsuit, Shaq endorsed FTX and encouraged people to trade the platform’s cryptocurrency derivatives without disclosing that he was paid by the company. However, Shaq’s legal team argues that plaintiffs had numerous attempts to serve him properly, stating that he had not evaded service by not being present at the residences where plaintiffs attempted to serve him or by driving past strangers who approached his car.
This dispute over improper service is just one example of the complexity of the case, which involves allegations of market manipulation and fraud. It remains to be seen how the lawsuit will be resolved, but it is clear that high-profile figures like Shaq and the other defendants face significant allegations that could have serious consequences.
In any event, Shaq’s legal team is clearly fighting back against the allegations, arguing that the purported service was not legally valid. The case has already raised eyebrows in the cryptocurrency and sports worlds, and it will be interesting to see how it develops in the coming weeks and months.
