Former NBA player Scottie Pippen launched the Game 5 Ball (BALL) project, a real-world asset (RWA) project to tokenize the “legendary 1991 Game 5 championship ball.” After the launch, Pippen and the project were accused of manipulating over 100 Ether (eth) and being involved in other crypto scams. Now, the Game 5 Ball team claims that an alleged hack is responsible for the incident.
Game 5 championship ball immortalized on the blockchain
Basketball legend Scottie Pippen recently x.com/ScottiePippen/status/1816618516575068234″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>Announced The launch of its Game 5 Ball RWA project. The crypto project aims to bring the “iconic piece of sports history to the blockchain for the first time” and preserve the legacy of the ball, “which marked the beginning of the Bulls dynasty and is driven by the community.”
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The announcement received mixed reactions, with some cryptocurrency investors expressing their enthusiasm for the project. One community member supported the basketball player's efforts to “tokenize iconic sports memorabilia,” but asked Pippen to “do things the right way.”
Others praised the project’s goals and offered suggestions for a successful launch and continued support from investors. Meanwhile, many community members felt the project would be another celebrity scam. Some x users questioned the player’s integrity and called Game 5 Ball a “clear money grab.”
Despite the reception, Game 5 Ball’s token, BALL, was launched on August 1. The project was surrounded by controversy after its price plummeted by almost 96% quickly after launch.
BALL's performance 16 hours after launching. Source: ethereum/0x440bb7a5fc57764d9e7f89e55ad57a342f92b9a2" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">DEX Screener
Online reports x.com/MoneyGangCrypto/status/1819146373360451956″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>revealed that the drop was due to the team withdrawing 103 eth, worth approximately $330,000, from the project's wallet. The reports also claimed that “the team had launched 1 hour before the launch and stolen the tokens.”
Cryptocurrency investors quickly shared the news and warned others about the alleged token theft, which apparently resulted in the team “trying to buy back after so much negativity on the TG.” Game 5 Ball developers claimed to have “made a mess” and that investors are in “the wild west” during a livestream in the project’s Telegram group chat.
BALL team linked to other cryptocurrency scams
Following the allegations, crypto sleuth ZachXBT revealed that the BALL deploying wallet had suspicious ties to an abandoned nft project called “Lil’ Hippo” and someone named “Mr. Moe.”
crypto sleuth shares Game 5 Ball team's links to alleged previous scams. Source:x.com/zachxbt/status/1819152823378235402" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow"> ZachXBT on x
Additionally, Zach shared that the former NBA player was linked to an nft scam from 2022. Pippen reportedly previously launched an nft collection on OpenSea that offered the chance for 33 holders to win a physical pair of sneakers. However, the project was “abandoned” before the sneakers were shipped.
However, Mr. Moe responded to the blockchain detective and claimed that Game 5 Ball had a “problem at launch,” but that the team was working to resolve the issues while still “fighting against many scammers.” He also clarified that Game 5 Ball was not a “celebrity” project, but rather an RWA esports project alongside Pippen.
The team addressed the issues, stating that “they” tried to sabotage the project with “sniper bots, Telegram phishing attacks, and phishing attacks.” They also explained that they have withdrawn liquidity from the project wallet to prevent losses and are “slowly re-incorporating from the development wallet to stabilize.”
In the end, the response was not well received by the community, which seems skeptical about the transparency of the project and its claim of being “No carpet… just BALL.”
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eth is trading at $3,150 in the three-day chart. Source: ETHUSDT on x/jRRSi8zk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">TradingView
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