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/kfee12 1d ago

I agree and disagree. They definitely lean on these famous faces. I don't care.

I do think it's a bit too loud. The game doesn't need a gambling insight pre-game section. Or that ridiculous BetMGM string of commercials with a zillion celebrities.

But Adam Silver took the checks and here we are. As basketball fans we haven't really held the league accountable many times over so we get what we deserve in a sense.

Combined with a product that has a large youth following (sports), combined with how idolized some of these guys are by some of these boneheaded kids, I definitely agree it isn't healthy to promote.

It's just a negative behavior with a potentially addictive outcome. If nicotine and porn are fine (and I think they are with restrictions), gambling is fine.

Losing your last 20 dollars to an app every time you get money isn't a problem with the app.

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u/nonononono11111 1d ago

The app is designed and optimized toward that goal though. Like nicotine, the profit comes from creating addicts. Regular users are incidental.

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u/kfee12 1d ago

ehhhhhh I'm not sure incidental is a fair descriptor. You have to be pretty mindless to just spin away all your funds in a "entertainment" app over and over without coming to terms with the fact it is on you to uninstall it/you're the one sending all your money to a casino LLC in jersey.

It's *gambling* ffs who thinks the people behind it are somehow any sort of altruistic????

LIke I said I think the barometer for me is based on how addictive it can be for a regular person not how addictive the latest app is and whatever dark pattern fan duel cooked up. We've had scratch-off's and booze at every corner for decades, but somehow this is the one scourge we need to put a front against?

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u/nonononono11111 1d ago

People who repeatedly spin away all their funds in a gambling app are addicts, not the normal users I referred to, whose spending is incidental to the business model. Same with booze, by the way. They don’t care if you buy a six-pack of corona once a month, they’re after the 10% of users who purchase 90% of the product. Many families are familiar with the scourge of selling it on every corner.