Rumors

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.)

Front Office Sports

For Morant, there’s also the $194 million contract extension he signed with the Grizzlies in July, a portfolio that includes equity in recovery-device maker Hyperice and sponsorship deals with companies that include Panini, Hasbro HAS +0.9% and Apple’s AAPL -0.2% Beats by Dre headphones. It adds up to an estimated take for Morant of about $40 million for the 2023-24 season. Happy new year indeed. But to Morant, just one of many more. “Me and my mom started a saying right after the season,” Morant tells Forbes. “Be a billionaire by 30. That’s my goal. So I have seven years.”

Forbes.com

Starting Lineup action figures were a hit in the 1980s and ‘90s, delivering collectible toy versions of popular athletes from the basketball, football, and baseball worlds, among others. Now, more than 20 years after they were last mass produced, Hasbro is reviving the brand with pricey new versions—and they come with NFT trading cards. Hasbro opened up pre-orders today for its first new lineup Starting Lineup toys focused on the NBA, with stars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the mix. Each six-inch figure is significantly more poseable than the old-school toys, but they’re also much more expensive: they sell for $50 a pop.

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