Shaquille O’Neal has been involved in many controversies over the years as an NBA player and TNT analyst. He was served with two complaints while broadcasting Tuesday night's game between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics. O’Neal allegedly avoided the lawyers for months before finally being served with the papers.
The lawsuit accused a series of celebrities of “deceptive practices to sell FTX yield-bearing digital currency accounts." The celebrities include American football star, Tom Brady and his ex-wife Gisele Bündchen. The former basketball player was served the complaint while working for TNT during Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference finals game between Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.
The lawyer Adam Moskovitz representing the FTX investors mentioned that got the event on tape to ensure transparency. Moskowitz told People, "The process server filmed the event to ensure there was no ambiguity like Shaq has been arguing in the FTX case." He also added that the TNT analyst kicked the server out of the arena and that the claims are ‘very serious’.
The lawyer's first complaint regarding O'Neal's commercials for FTX has been pending since November 2022 in Miami Federal Court. FTX was also the sponsor of Miami Heat early in the season before changing it due to the cryptocurrency exchange getting bankrupt. Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in January and charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and more. The second complaint accuses O’Neal of "violating federal securities laws" after he and his son, Myles O’Neal, founded their company ASTRALS.
O’Neal was a part of many advertisements for FTX and he said in December that he was only a paid spokesperson for the company. With the papers finally being officially served to O’Neal the case can officially move forward.
