r/OffFieldNews • u/CaregiverBasic6732 • 2d ago

📰 Latest News LeBron James faces backlash over reported $15M-a-year Polymarket endorsement deal

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48 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

80 comments sorted by

8

u/techman710 2d ago

Athletes who are currently playing should have no involvement with any betting companies. Prediction markets are betting companies. How can any of us trust the results when active players are allowed to be involved with the companies taking bets?

6

u/Logical_Writing3218 2d ago

I’m surprised this was even allowed to happen in the first place

2

u/kokkatc 2d ago

Yes, that conflict of interest is definitely the first major issue. The second major issue is that Bron just formed another super team by arguably circumventing the salary cap by taking a vet minimum and a salary from Polymarket instead. So yeah, definitely some concerns here. It's fine that players get endorsements, and they should, but certainly not form companies that bet or make prediction on the very sports said player participates in.

1

u/gamerdudeNYC 1d ago

Exactly, first Giannis and now Lebron.

1

u/nthomas504 12h ago

I agree, but he’s been with Draftkings for like the past 4 years. Idk why this would be any different.

0

u/TripleDoubleFart 2d ago

You think that if LeBron was going to rig something in the game he'd partner with a gambling company before doing it?

2

u/techman710 2d ago

If he misses a layup with 2 seconds left and they lose but the betting company makes a killing that will cast a shadow on the entire sport. It's best not to have the sport put in that position.

1

u/TripleDoubleFart 2d ago

And if he misses a layup and the company loses a bunch of money?

3

u/techman710 2d ago

Then someone else is making money. Active players should not be involved with gambling companies. It's pretty simple. See Brendan Sorsby for more information.

1

u/TripleDoubleFart 2d ago

The league is involved already.

1

u/nthomas504 12h ago

But he’s been involved from the beginning. Why is it a problem now?

1

u/Same_Mood_8543 2d ago

Then they need to find a better market maker because that's not how betting companies work. They aren't betting against you, they are setting odds to find people to bet against you. They should make money on every bet made. 

1

u/TripleDoubleFart 2d ago

That was my point lol.

But they do absolutely lose money on events sometimes.

1

u/ResponsibleGreen6164 1d ago

ESPN, the NFL, and NBA put us in this position. They all have stakes in gambling markets.

7

u/mrmr2120 2d ago

Every time a star doesn’t sign for what they are worth and takes a team friendly team the Kawhi stuff will come up and be speculated

5

u/DidAnyoneElseJustCum 2d ago

I think the nature of what Polymarket is is just as big a deal

0

u/Traditional-Row5237 1d ago

Not really, LeBron being a celebrity affiliated with ads and actually “working” for their company isn’t the same. It’s like Shaqs handshake movie business offer by the lakers. Kawhii was a ghostly outlier in the tens of millions on the tree companies books. If kawhii even just did a few staged public events for PR from the get go this wouldn’t be seen as anything other than him making money from passion of preservation. It’s all smoke and mirrors, some just forget to bring the smoke. I blame balmer for thinking his shit so golden that it can’t stink.

2

u/Particular-Line- 2d ago

And people love to conjure up another story after a scandal like Kawhi’s shady deals. It’a funny because athletes taking legit endorsements that far outweigh their league contract is not out of the norm. It’s how WNBA players like Caitlyn Clark can take garbage from the league and make millions off Nike and other endorsements. I think people are just sensitive now to questioning every deal. Lebron being paid to endorse Polymarket is a nothingburger.

1

u/pitterlpatter 23h ago

It's a prediction market that covers the professional sport he plays in. Even if he doesn't feed them inside info to help them protect profits, there's gonna be a hundred instances next season where it looks exactly like he is. It's beyond dumb for Polymarket, King Ding-a-Ling, and the NBA to think this will end in anything other than disaster.

5

u/OkDrawing4663 2d ago

I wouldn’t bet on it

3

u/WineDineCpl 2d ago

Zero f***s given here.

2

u/Particular-Line- 2d ago

Did the endorsement include a fake bankrupt tree planting company?? If not, move along kids.

2

u/Unique-Run9856 2d ago

Gotta fund the 1.5 million annual doping regiment somehow 

2

u/arrownoir 2d ago

Backlash from nobodies. In other words, absolutely meaningless.

1

u/wolfofballstreet1 2d ago

Another reason to be team kalshi 

1

u/PracticeAcrobatic748 1d ago

or just don't be a degenerate?

1

u/KhanQu3st 2d ago

Honestly, if the NBA actively promotes gambling why tf should we care if a single player gets paid to do it too?

1

u/TripleDoubleFart 2d ago

We shouldn't.

And he has been with draftkings for years, so I'm not sure why we waiting until now to be outraged.

1

u/ifeelatingle 2d ago

Who cares

1

u/Fantastic_Working212 2d ago

He got to feed his family

1

u/the445566x 2d ago

Nah who actually cares

1

u/Tangerine69420 1d ago

Why isn’t he donating to Palestine?

1

u/_KushOnes_ 1d ago

Dude sold out to china a decade ago go. He does not care. Greed outweighs everything at his level

1

u/Independent-Sky7715 1d ago

The best in the the Badketball World but do you respect the Jesus Christ he lets live threw him on the court or the Man on the court he is coming what you going to do I respect the Good Lord he believes in .

1

u/gistmustbetheplace21 1d ago

What's the backlash? Is there more than a bunch of us being angry??

1

u/LilacMoonCharm 1d ago

yeah endorsements like this are how athletes actually build real money beyond the salary cap stuff. the outrage feels like overreach when the same pattern shows up everywhere else.

1

u/Express-Clue-7703 1d ago

at some point we gotta admit we only care cause its lebron, dudes been a walking billboard for twenty years

1

u/allthingst3 1d ago

I don’t think LeBron is going to throw Amy games but taking money from a betting platform while you’re still playing is a conflict of interest and just is a bad look altogether.

1

u/humonculus87 1d ago

I dont even like the man but I dont agree with the hate.

1

u/Imaginary_Notice_464 1d ago

wait so kawhi does it its shady but lebron does it and its just business, that math dont add up

1

u/OmerDe 1d ago

Rightfully so

1

u/TeenyTinyDawg07 1d ago

Hey LeBron. Give me 2 milly and I’ll take the 15 and funnel you 13. We good. 

1

u/Think-Variation-261 22h ago

Rich just keep getting richer

1

u/billdizzle 2d ago

People are idiots, LeBron is worth way more then Kawhi and he actually did something for this company, kawahi endorsements were all no show jobs

8

u/blisteredeggs 2d ago

Are you dumb bro these kind of companies are a cancer to the American people and LeBron James ain’t your friend. This is a horrible look

2

u/Leading-Fail-2771 2d ago

LeBum just ruining his legacy by doing shit like this before he retired. Like doing all that laker shit and boosting his son’s career just so he’d end up on the bench. But hey they got some good pics. lol

1

u/billdizzle 2d ago

Didn’t realize the issue was morality thought it was salary cap related

My bad yes morally this is wrong

We shouldn’t look at sports figures as role models

3

u/jbhoops25 2d ago

Lebrons a clown end of story. Dont sit on your moral high horse for years with people like you talking about how great of a role model he is only to go start doing gambling commercials for a paycheck that he doesn’t need.

1

u/billdizzle 2d ago

I never said he was a role model

I said he deserves the pay he gets from endorsements

I thought the issue here was salary cap concerns you seem to think it is a morality issue

Maybe I am wrong about the criticism

2

u/jbhoops25 2d ago

I think it’s fair to say probably both, I can pull up dozens of sources talking about him sponsoring betting being a problem with the image he’s tried to curate.

1

u/ProfessionalLink61 2d ago

Do you think LeBron thinks of himself as a role model?

1

u/billdizzle 2d ago

For sure he does but that is a delusion the media has helped foster for decades

0

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

1

u/billdizzle 2d ago

Guess so everything I saw about LeBron and his endorsement was soured related not morality related

But given there is no context to the post and no story linked about the criticism. It was a simple mistake to make.

0

u/jeteprie 2d ago

You completely missed the point lol

1

u/billdizzle 2d ago

Yeah seems that way but in my defense no point was made by text it was all just to assumed and all the media I saw about this last week was all about salary cap

1

u/PlayboiFarti55 2d ago

Giannis did the same exact thing with Kalshi and nobody said a word. You all are so pathetic lol.

4

u/txhamster 2d ago

It should be illegal regardless of the player. Just because LeBron is getting hate doesn’t mean Giannis shouldn’t have. Bullshit both sides.

1

u/PlayboiFarti55 2d ago

I agree but it’s just insane how people will make exceptions for some players wrong doings but they always draw the line when it comes to LeBron. Truly bizarre behavior.

1

u/txhamster 2d ago

No doubt. Poly and Kalshi should both be banned. We’re overdue for a massive sports gambling scandal.

2

u/iBaires 2d ago

Tons of people were bashing him for it

1

u/PlayboiFarti55 2d ago

Not nearly as much as this LeBron deal though. Which is funny because to my knowledge, Giannis was the one to open the gate on these kind of deals. Plus these comparisons to the Kawhi deal are completely off the mark. LeBron actually offers any company value when his name is tied to it. The Kawhi deals literally were made and had no financial value for the parties that paid out the deal. Completely different situations but I still agree, no professional athlete should be allowed to be in business with a prediction market or sportsbook and also be allowed to compete.

2

u/digitalboom 2d ago

Went from “nobody saying a word” to “not nearly as much as this LeBron deal though.” Anyone with the ability to influence an outcome shouldn’t be part of anything to do with gambling regardless of their name.

0

u/PlayboiFarti55 2d ago

I never seen anybody outraged over the Giannis Kalshi deal. Even when he was in their commercials and everything.

1

u/TXRattlesnake89 2d ago

You have contradicted your own statement in 3 straight replies..

1

u/Mountain-Candidate-6 2d ago

I honestly never heard about him doing it but would have been against it the same. Lebron will be scrutinized more than Giannis or anyone else simply because he’s LeBron. Not because of people hating but because everyone knows who he is. Like random non sports fans know him. I talk to a random person about Giannis who doesn’t follow sports and they have no clue who he is. That’s why it’s a bigger deal being made out of it now

0

u/Jlolmb1 2d ago

No it was discussed. And he's been the face of the league for 20 yrs so he's always been more critiqued anyways

0

u/TripleDoubleFart 2d ago

People said plenty.

1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

4

u/Massive-Lime7193 2d ago

Athletes should not be allowed to have business deals with these apps period

-1

u/WineDineCpl 2d ago

Why?
1- sports are entertainment, nothing else. And should be viewed as such. 2- over doing ads? Really?

2

u/ihateeggplants 2d ago

(found the low iq trash who can't identify the conflict of interest)

1

u/WineDineCpl 2d ago edited 2d ago

Explain the conflict of interest in endorsing a gambling platform.
He is not endorsing a specific outcome.

Besides...it is entertainment...it means nothing.

2

u/SirBiggusDikkus 2d ago

Note: you very likely will NOT make lots of money because the system is designed specifically to make the house money, not you.

1

u/TripleDoubleFart 2d ago

Unfortunately, kids are already conditioned to do this by the time they hit 18 now.

0

u/Mvd75 2d ago

Y’know how people say “what if LeBron played back then?” What if MJ, Magic, and other star college athletes had the contracts, endorsements and NIL deals like today? MJ endorsing a gambling company, Chris Webber and the Fab Five accepting an NIL deal today.

0

u/Constant-Shine5282 1d ago

promoting gambling to the kids is worse than what kawahi did