Underdog is refusing to bend after an attorney for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander demanded the company “destroy” copies of a promotional board game poking fun at the NBA MVP’s proclivity for drawing fouls.
The sports prediction market and fantasy-sports company made 100 copies of Unethical Hoops, a promotional item based on the classic board game Operation. The game, which was announced via a social media post featuring Suns forward Dillon Brooks, can be won by Underdog users, with winners set to be announced Friday. (The classic Operation game, which first came out in 1965, is produced by Hasbro and retails for about $20.)
“Shai has made hoops all about foul baiting and now you’re stuck guarding him in Underdog’s new board game,” the company wrote on a website promoting the game. “Don’t get baited. Steal the ball without getting whistled.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s attorney, Eric Fishman of ArentFox Schiff LLP, sent a cease and desist letter to Underdog on May 22, saying the company is unlawfully using his name, image, likeness, and persona without permission. The letter, a copy of which Front Office Sports obtained, says the Thunder star’s right of publicity has been violated, and he is entitled to “injunctive relief, damages (including actual damages and disgorgement of profits), corrective advertising, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other appropriate remedies at law and in equity, if he must bring an action against you in court.”
