The incident took place at the Miami Heat's home arena, now called the Kaseya Center. The arena was previously known as the FTX Arena.These process servers have been persistently attempting to serve him with a class-action lawsuit regarding his alleged promotion of FTX. However, this time, there was an additional lawsuit that claimed O'Neal not only promoted FTX but also founded and endorsed a Solana-based Astrals nonfungible token (NFT) project. The second lawsuit further alleged that the Astrals NFT project involved the sale of "unregistered securities."
According to reports from The Wall Street Journal, on May 23, the process servers were able to reach O'Neal at the ex-FTX Arena while he was commentating on a basketball game. Adam Moskowitz, the lawyer representing both lawsuits, confirmed that O'Neal was served with both the FTX class-action suit and the new separate class-action suit related to his alleged promotion of the Astrals NFT project.
It is worth noting that in a previous court appearance, O'Neal had claimed that process servers for the FTX suit had negligently tossed the legal documents in front of his moving vehicle, which he subsequently left on the road. O'Neal's lawyers claimed that the service of the lawsuit was insufficient and did not adhere to federal rules requiring compliance with state laws for serving a summons. They argued that the FTX suit, served in Georgia, was not carried out by an authorized individual.
In this recent lawsuit, Moskowitz revealed that the process server had actually purchased tickets to attend the basketball game on May 23 where O'Neal was commentating from a platform. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the server managed to deliver the complaint to O'Neal. However, following the delivery, O'Neal reportedly had the server ejected from the arena.
The FTX class-action lawsuit primarily focuses on celebrities who are alleged to have endorsed the now-bankrupt exchange. Alongside O'Neal, the lawsuit names basketball player Steph Curry, retired NFL player Tom Brady, comedian Larry David, and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. During the TV coverage before the game, O'Neal and Curry even joked about the ongoing lawsuit. While Curry was being presented with an award, O'Neal humorously commented, "Thanks for getting me in trouble. Don't say nothing, be quiet," before swiftly changing the subject.
The second class-action lawsuit served to O'Neal, filed on May 23, revolves around his alleged founding and promotion of the Solana-based Astrals NFT project. The complaint argues that the sale of the Astrals NFTs constitutes an "offer and sale of unregistered securities." The lawsuit claims that those who purchased the NFTs were essentially investing in an "investment contract" under the Howey Test, with the expectation of profit as part of a common enterprise.
The plaintiffs in the second lawsuit specifically targeted O'Neal, alleging that they had "invested" in Astrals and suffered losses due to his purported conduct. Additionally, the suit raises doubts about O'Neal's current involvement in the Astrals Project, as he has not made any recent posts in the project's Discord channel since January.
As a result of these legal actions, the plaintiffs seek various forms of damages and monetary relief related to the losses they claim to have incurred from purchasing the Astrals NFTs.
In summary, during an NBA game, process servers managed to serve O'Neal with both the FTX class-action lawsuit and the new lawsuit concerning the Astrals NFT project.
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