The SEC lies even in court, as seen in the article. Maxis just repeat the lies because they think they benefit from them. Until the SEC or any other part of the State apparatus decides to turn on them, which they will inevitably do.
BTC was totally centralized when it launched, and the distribution was limited to one single individual at first (who presumably still holds 5% of the total max supply), and then to just a few insiders. Not being sold at an exchange where anyone could buy it didn't make it less centralized, but more. That was eventually overcome.
I think the same criteria can be applied to many other projects out there. You can be centralized in the beginning and then become decentralized.
Not that I particularly care about any particular "crypto", because my wealth is stored in BTC. I simply dislike the inconsistency and the maxis' naïveté of thinking that they can ride that monster.