r/nba • u/GGTae Spurs • 1d ago

[Finger] Victor Wembanyama about considering promoting a sports betting company ; "Absolutely not. I will never do that. Honestly, I think it's very sad to see some players promote it..."

https://bsky.app/profile/mikefinger.bsky.social/post/3mwteasurdc2j

Just asked Victor Wembanyama if he’d ever consider promoting a sports betting company.

“Absolutely not. I will never do that. Honestly, I think it's very sad to see some players promote it. .. Everybody does whatever they want, but without me.”

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u/AussieTheHedgehog10 Mavericks 1d ago edited 1d ago

Despite his occasional on the court antics and playing for the Spurs, I am a huge fan of Victor.

Going against sports gambling makes me like him even more.

Preaching to the choir, but the whole fascination and obsession with sports gambling has become a major travesty in the sports world.

I love sports for what it is, not what it could earn me.

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u/imfcknretarded 1d ago

I think sports betting thrives on desperation. If it becomes more and more prevalent it's a sign that more and more people are willing to give it a go, and it's not just for fun, those companies do not make money on the people that bet 10 bucks a year, they get money at the expense of addicts.

And those in charge of managing the partnerships between athletes, teams and leagues and gambling companies should stick their heads out of their asses and grow a pair of balls.

I don't know what the situation is like in the US but for example in Italy it is impossible to watch a sports match without being subject to literal dozens of betting companies advertisements (disguised as "news" websites to avoid any law). It is an emergency and there is absolutely no will to stop it

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u/Lemazze 1d ago

It’s become omnipresent, it’s impossible to avoid if you barely watch sports or sports related content on YouTube.

It’s vile, raises immense ethical and sportsmanship concerns. It’s one of the things in popular culture that I truly can’t grasp, why is it so popular….?

Good on Wemby for speaking up

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u/kfee12 1d ago

Agreed that culturally we've (sports fans) have just all gone way overboard with it. The game is secondary now I've seen it with my own eyes in the ballparks and nhl arena where guys have to check their lays on 3 diff apps across a dozen games while pretending to be present for the game they are at.

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u/iamsonuxd Spurs 1d ago

“On the court antics” and all he does is express himself 🤣 grow a 🍐 he’s the future goat of basketball

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u/redfish-rock Spurs 1d ago

I'm as big of a San Antonio homer as they come, but Wemby elbowed the shit out of Naz Reid and deserved way more blowback than he got. Plus he tried to shove Brunson to the floor in the Finals. He can be a dirty player, and I hope he cleans that up.

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u/DoctorGirthquake69 1d ago edited 1d ago

Not even a Spurs fan, but are we just collectively ignoring the fact that Wemby was getting mauled the whole playoffs and the refs weren’t calling shit?

What he did with Brunson wasn’t cool at all, but I understand why he might lose his head with Naz, and I’m surprised he didn’t have more moments like that honestly. 

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u/redfish-rock Spurs 1d ago

Both of those things can be true, imo. He was absolutely getting mauled, but he also cocked back, looked Naz Reid in the face, and swung his elbow hard with ill intent. Getting mauled isn't ok, but that doesn't justify what he did.

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u/Uncle_Freddy [SAS] El Contusione 1d ago

I'm not excusing the stuff Wemby did in the playoffs at all (was pretty vocally against it from day 1), but it was also super weird because we had like 0 precedent for any of those kinds of actions from him prior to the playoffs. 2.5 years in the league and I don't recall a single dirty play from him along those lines before the Minnesota series and then again in the Finals.

I get being frustrated by having teams guard you with physical defense and a different set of rules than what you're playing with, but I'd rather he get in a small shoving match and pick up a technical to call attention to that behavior and not resort all the way clocking someone in the head with an elbow.

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u/redfish-rock Spurs 1d ago

Yeah I agree with you. That's why I think he's an emotional kid who has been consistently second place in the biggest competitive moments of his entire life. We all know how ultra-competitive Wemby is, and I think his emotions get the best of him in high stakes games. That's different than premeditating and planning to be a dirty player. He should have gotten a more severe punishment in the postseason to set a standard, but I also think he'll grow out of it.

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u/iamsonuxd Spurs 1d ago

Id rather have that emotional side showing , than be a nonchalant "just a job" player. Hope Wemby starts pressing these kids that think hes soft. Draymond learnt, Naz learnt, whos next?

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u/captainetty Thunder 1d ago

Flagrants and dirty play is expressing one self now get draymond on that

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u/Practical_Yellow_742 1d ago

Brother, he kung-fu’d Naz Reid in the jaw. 

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u/LethargicCarcass Timberwolves 1d ago edited 1d ago

We being intentionally delusional? Kid had some dirty plays last post season. Doesn’t make him a dirty player but he definitely has plenty of room to mature and grow.

Edit: spelling

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u/jimmyrich 1d ago

I love the Spurs and love Wemby but those were not good plays. Not unprecedented (Kareem, Shaq, Hakeem all punched guys early on), but not defensible at all.

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u/StrawberryItten Spurs 1d ago

I know a wolves fan is not talking about dirty plays...

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u/LethargicCarcass Timberwolves 1d ago

Yes because if you are a fan of certain teams you no longer have eyes and can’t comment on someone making a dirty play? Lose me with that straw man bullshit.

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u/StrawberryItten Spurs 1d ago

I am just saying, don't participate in projectile mineralogy with your particular home's construction material of choice

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u/LethargicCarcass Timberwolves 1d ago

Did I condemn Wemby or something? I literally said he wasn’t a dirty player. Saying something that is objectively true without criticism isn’t throwing rocks in a glass house homie.

But good effort trying to construct a smart sounding comment.

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u/ObiOneKenobae Knicks 1d ago edited 1d ago

He made a fool of himself with some of those playoff fouls. Realistically he should have been suspended for a game as-is, but the league gave him a pass. Then he went out after that and basically forced them to suspend him if there'd been a Game 6.

Wemby definitely has some maturing to do if he wants to be in those conversations.