If the song from LeBron James’s agonizing Polymarket ad is as stuck in your head as mine thanks to the commercial playing during every YouTube video and HBO show (all I wanted to do was rewatch The Leftovers), let Victor Wembanyama be your antidote. At the Spurs’ practice on Thursday, San Antonio Express-News columnist Mike Finger asked Wembanyama if he would ever partner with a sports betting firm. It couldn’t have been easier for the 22-year-old to say yes.
The NBA displays ads for both FanDuel and DraftKings, in addition to hawking betting odds on its broadcasts. Until the streaming service met its end a few months ago, plenty of NBA games streamed exclusively on FanDuel Sports Network. Then there are Wembanyama’s legendary peers: James is the new face of Polymarket; Kevin Durant reads FanDuel odds and invests in Kalshi; Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Kalshi shareholder.
Honestly, I think it’s very sad to see some players promote it. Everybody does whatever they want, but without me.” Standards are so back. It shouldn’t feel miraculous that a star of Wembanyama’s stature is taking the position that players should not cash checks from predatory companies that incentivize athletes to dabble in insider trading, but in 2026, we’ll take any anti-sellout ally we can find.
This one may prove particularly valuable. Given his age and fame, Wembanyama should be around as a beacon to cut through the murk of betting for some time to come. How refreshing that, as rightwing terror reigns, the NBA’s best and biggest young star is a politically outspoken leftist.
It’s not a stylish time to turn down buckets of money. Thanks to some combination of a disintegrating economy, a president and political party so craven and corrupt that scandal-worthy behavior often doesn’t register, and a significant overlap among the wealthy and the morally bankrupt, shame died a bloody death somewhere in the last decade. Most basketball podcasts keep themselves afloat with gambling companies’ life rings.
No reputational damage seems to last. James’s Polymarket partnership was immediately and emphatically unpopular, but apparently not enough for anybody at the Philadelphia 76ers’ media day to ask him about it. So Wembanyama’s emphatic rejection of a sports betting partnership stands out.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
