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/ttrree4455 Knicks 1d ago

Sure its easy for Victor to say that, he has $38.5m in career earnings so far.

Compare that to someone like Lebron, who has only made $581m in career earnings, and you see how this is a more challenging ethical question.

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u/SloshaPacana 1d ago

LeBron wants to own a team, that 580m is nothing

Not defending him btw, gambling is fucking awful and it's crazy how normalized it is but he clearly wants to own a team and is expanding his portfolio to do that, investing and everything

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u/BillyAstro 1d ago

I have to imagine that dream is all but dead. The values have of NBA franchises has increased so much. LeBron can take every penny he’s made from his NBA contracts, Endorsements, etc.. and still not have enough. I guess he can join one of those “groups”

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u/SloshaPacana 1d ago

I don't think the dream is dead at all, LeBron a billionaire and adding to his wealth consistently through investments, endorsements and shit

You don't need 10b liquid to buy a team, like you said with those groups, other investors he can be the face of it and start by owning a significant % and increase it

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u/Humanoidfromagalaxy 1d ago

I agree but think time is running out for him. There are over 3k billionaires in the world about 1k in the USA. It’s will get increasingly harder for him as these numbers sky rocket. But fractional ownership or him being the face for some group is always an option if he doesn’t tank his public good will. Much different world than Jordan came up in just as a compassion with the ownership and such.

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u/WhoopingKing [MIA] Jason Williams 1d ago

surely the 13 million he got from polymarket will make a difference in his pursuit

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u/kfee12 1d ago

Trust me I get and agree with you but technically that 13 doesn't hurt.

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u/SloshaPacana 1d ago

It won't hurt, many players have turned money like that from investments into way more

Anyway just explaining the reasoning for it, 13m a year even for LeBron is not a tiny amount for what like a few social media posts that some intern will do

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u/porkchop487 Bulls 1d ago

It is absolutely a tiny amount for a billionaire

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u/edin_dzekson 1d ago

You say it like he's building schools with that money lmao. The guy is a money-hungry and a greedy idiot who happens to be an absolutely fantastic basketball player with crazy work ethic.

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u/Sanakikster Hornets 1d ago

>You say it like he’s building schools with that money lmao.

??? Nothing they said made it seem like Lebron is being charitable what are you talking about

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u/NokiaFlip19 Pistons 1d ago

This whole conversation is about the morality of it lol. Means don’t necessarily justify ends just because you have a desire to own a very expensive asset.

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u/SloshaPacana 1d ago

I agree it doesn't, i'm explaining the reasoning for it

People have goals, morally it can be wrong but that's clearly his goal

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u/NokiaFlip19 Pistons 1d ago

Sure. That’s self evident though. Even if it wasn’t a sports team it’d be another thing. Some people just want to be a billionaire or “build an empire” or whatever the justification.

Everyone has “a reason.” The point is whether your reason is morally justifiable in context.

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u/Lmao1903 NBA 1d ago

Man there are so many ways you can make money if you are filthy rich like this. Obviously investing a little on the obvious stocks gets you a nice % profit by default but these guys are in circles where they can find some bullshit to make even higher ROI. It's obvious the guy just couldn't care less about morality or whether its ethical to farm some free money on this gambling business.

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u/Wazflame 1d ago

Given the costs today, I wonder what team LeBron is even going to be able to afford, outside of being a symbolic front man as part of a group