The former NBA champion, Tristan Thompson, is reportedly suing the World Mobile Group (WMG), a U.K-based crypto company that gave him a $2 million deal to endorse them in the U.S as their brand ambassador.
According to a lawsuit filed in Delaware’s Chancery Court, Thompson alleges that the company promised him $2 million over the course of quarterly payments for two years.
But in December 2025, the company ‘accidentally’ sent him more tokens than he had accrued for that quarter. Thompson apparently amicably agreed to a solution where the company could offset the extra tokens from his upcoming payment that we accrued for February 2026.
Ninety days later, in March 2026, the company rescinded its agreement, citing “material breach and termination” of the contract.
“To avoid paying the sums owed to Mr. Thompson, defendants purported to terminate the agreement for cause,” the complaint says. “But defendants had no grounds to terminate for cause under the agreement.”
“Defendants’ purported basis for termination, Mr. Thompson’s alleged failure to return tokens that were overpaid due to defendants’ own calculation error, and Mr. Thompson’s alleged sale of WMTX tokens do not constitute a material breach of the agreement,” the complaint adds.
The former Cleveland Cavaliers player publicly accepted a leadership position with the organization last year, joining as Chief Digital Equity Officer and supporting its goal of increasing internet access to underprivileged areas worldwide.
Thompson was positioned as a key player in World Mobile’s efforts at the time to use decentralized infrastructure to provide connectivity to low-income and rural areas. He claims in the lawsuit that by advertising the business on social media and making public appearances, he complied with his obligations.
Thompson has invested himself in the digital world pretty extensively. He recently revealed that he was one of the early investors in Anthropic, the currently booming artificial intelligence company. Therefore, he feels that the company’s continued use of his NIL despite terminating the agreement is causing him more harm beyond the money he was owed.
“Monetary damages alone are inadequate to remedy the continuing harm to Mr. Thompson’s reputation, goodwill, and control over the commercial use of his identity,” the suit claims.
Additionally, it requests a ruling prohibiting the company from using his NIL going forward. The WMTx token peaked in February 2022 at around 98 cents. According to CoinMarketCap, it is currently trading at less than 5 cents per token, a 95% decrease.
The 13-year NBA veteran last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers until the end of the 2024-25 season, where he averaged career lows in every statistical category: 1.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 8.2 minutes per game.
Claims of breach of contract and unauthorized use of NIL are included in the three-count lawsuit, which demands that Thompson be paid the outstanding amounts plus interest and other damages.
Hence, this lawsuit will deal with several intricate issues beyond the primary face value of the deal ($2 million). All eyes are now on WMG to justify their actions, but no comments have yet been made by either side.
