{"id":700166,"date":"2026-05-28T14:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/700166\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T14:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:18:10","slug":"so-pathetic-nba-world-reacts-as-shai-gilgeous-alexanders-lawyers-issue-cease-and-desist-over-unethical-hoops-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/700166\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2019So Pathetic\u2019 \u2014 NBA World Reacts As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s Lawyers Issue Cease and Desist Over \u2019Unethical Hoops\u2019 Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a lightning rod for criticism throughout the 2026 playoffs, with the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> superstar\u2019s divisive foul-drawing tactics stirring up the NBA world nearly every time he suits up.<\/p>\n

Underdog Sports took the narrative a step further by devising an Operation-inspired board game called \u201cUnethical Hoops\u201d to poke fun at the reigning back-to-back MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s lawyers have since responded with a cease-and-desist letter, sparking mixed reactions, with many questioning the 27-year-old\u2019s mental toughness.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s Legal Team\u2019s Response to \u2018Unethical Hoops\u2019 Game Divides NBA World<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander is undeniably one of the league\u2019s top offensive talents, having averaged 31.1 points per game on career-high 55.3% shooting across 68 regular-season games in his second MVP campaign.<\/p>\n

Despite being arguably the NBA\u2019s shiftiest, smoothest shot creator, his knack for embellishing contact and frequently tumbling to the floor has damaged his appeal to fans outside OKC. Gilgeous-Alexander has made a league-leading 120 total free throws in this year\u2019s postseason, 6 more than his made field goal tally (114).<\/p>\n

Underdog capitalized on the mounting backlash by unveiling its \u201cUnethical Hoops\u201d board game early in the Thunder\u2019s Western Conference finals series against the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>. The company partnered with Phoenix Suns wing Dillon Brooks<\/a>, who previously voiced his frustrations with Gilgeous-Alexander after getting swept by OKC in the first round of the playoffs, to promote the game.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

In a viral video, Brooks can be seen attempting to remove small balls from holes on the board using sensor-sensitive tweezers, with an alarm signaling a \u201cfoul\u201d whenever contact is made with Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

MORE: \u2018No Way,\u2019 \u2018Absolutely Insane\u2019 \u2014 NBA World Reacts to Adam Silver Claiming \u2018Officiating Is Incredible\u2019 Amid Mounting Outrage Against OKC<\/a><\/p>\n

Underdog followed the release up by holding a contest to give away 100 copies of \u201cUnethical Hoops\u201d during Game 3, prompting a response from Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s legal team.<\/p>\n

Per The Athletic\u2019s Jason Jones\u2019 Wednesday report<\/a>, on May 22, Eric Fishman of law firm ArentFox Schiff LLP sent a letter requesting Underdog to \u201cpermanently cease and desist from any and all use of Mr. Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s NIL in any and all media, including but not limited to your website (including the Unethical Hoops Website), apps, social media accounts, digital marketing and advertisements, promotional emails, push notifications, affiliate or influencer placements, and any physical goods including but not limited to the board game advertised on the Unethical Hoops Website.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Moreover, the report noted that \u201cthe letter also asks that all board games be destroyed and that Underdog not use Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s name, image or likeness without his permission.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Underdog declined to comment, outside observers didn\u2019t hold back, with numerous X users perceiving the news as a sign of Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s fragility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is so pathetic,\u201d NFL reporter Connor Hughes blasted the Thunder standout<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow embarrassing, dude\u2026 Kobe<\/a> [Bryant] is literally rolling over in his grave. RIP Mamba,\u201d a retired New York Knicks content creator slammed Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSGA said that he don\u2019t let the flopping sh*t get to him on the presser, then proceeds to start crying days later because there\u2019s a game named after him for being a flopper \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d. Grown man, btw,\u201d a Los Angeles Lakers supporter quipped<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, they really sending cease & desist over foul-bait jokes \ud83d\ude2d. SGA got legal defense AND on-court defense now \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02,\u201d another user jested<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, others came to Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s defense, with a few X users highlighting the four-time All-Star\u2019s most likely motive.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you just approve of all image and likeness being used without consent\/compensation? That\u2019s what the C&D is about,\u201d sports editor Charles Chaney opined<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo professional business, especially one associated with the sport, should be making slandering remarks towards someone for profit,\u201d another observer reasoned<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe era we are in, most of these companies just care about initially going viral and will deal with the cease and desist once it comes. They got the benefit they desired by the time they\u2019re asked to stop. Sucks, but that\u2019s the social media era we live in,\u201d NBA agent Nate Jones weighed in<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Regardless of Underdog\u2019s next move, Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s league-wide villain role appears set in stone, especially with the Thunder just five wins away from becoming the NBA\u2019s first repeat champions since 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a lightning rod for criticism throughout the 2026 playoffs, with the Oklahoma City Thunder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,240965,20447,39724,57051,7232,590,340972,1666,5548,7185,10549,12841,85,340970,340971],"class_list":["post-700166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-board-game","tag-dillon-brooks","tag-hoops","tag-kobe","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-nba-world","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-phoenix-suns","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sports","tag-underdog-sports","tag-unethical-hoops"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}