San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama isn’t going to let the rise in sports gambling impact his image off the court.
It was reported in September that LeBron James struck a deal with Polymarket, a prediction market platform, that’ll pay him $15 million per year. If we rewind back to February, it was revealed that Giannis Antetokounmpo is a shareholder in Kalshi, which is another major prediction market.
Even though Wembanyama will receive plenty of endorsement offers over the course of his NBA career, he made it clear that he’ll never promote a sports betting company.
“Absolutely not. I will never do that,” Wembanyama told reporters. “Honestly, I think it’s very sad to see some players promote it. …Everybody does whatever they want, but without me.”
© Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images.
Wembanyama, who averaged 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game last season, is receiving a ton of praise for taking a stand against gambling.
“He just gets it,” Molly Morrison of Bleacher Report said.
“And the vast majority of NBA fans somehow now find this guy to be unlikable,” Ricky O’Donnell of SB Nation wrote. “They could never make me hate you, Wemby.”
“We love to see it,” a Spurs fan replied.
“Absolutely stand by Wemby. It’s disgusting how sports betting sites has taken over enjoying literally any sport you watch,” another fan commented.
Wemby isn’t afraid to take a stand against major companies.
Wembanyama’s agent, Jeremy Medjana, revealed during the NBA Finals that his client turned down partnerships with soda companies.
“We’re not gonna mix his image with sodas like Coca-Cola,” Medjana told Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “They all want him, but Victor will never sell soda. Because he doesn’t want to kill the kids.”
Clearly, Wembanyama wants to set a good example for the youth. You don’t have to be his biggest fan, but you have to at least respect how much he cares about being a role model.
