r/nba • u/GGTae Spurs • 1h 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 1h 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/Yusuke_Boopermeshi 1h ago

How else is Lebron supposed to commute via helicopter everyday from his penthouse in NYC to his practice facility in Philly?

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u/spriking Warriors 1h ago

He got a family to feed man. Those tacos don't grow on trees.

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u/htg0428 Celtics 1h ago

Hey man I have it on good authority that Kawhi planted at least 5 taco trees for aspiration

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u/pumpkins21 Spurs 52m ago

We stopped watering the taco trees he planted by the Alamo once he fled the city

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u/DefNotaBot22 Knicks 1h ago

Poor Bronny is struggling out there

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u/teflonjon321 Heat 1h ago

Yeah. He even told the media the other day that his name is actually LeBron. Poor kid

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u/alexredekop Raptors 1h ago

So true! And only ONE of his children is making a guaranteed $2M this year. Basically still a dependent.

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u/IOnlyLieWhenITalk Hawks 33m ago

Theres a tuesday almost every week man, its crazy expensive

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u/Literally_12 Lakers 1h ago

Taco Tuesday aint cheap

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u/defeated_engineer 1h ago

It was so disgusting to make Taco Tuesday his catchphrase for a couple months and immediately forget about it after court stroke down his trademark application.

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u/Arponare 57m ago

I mean, they grow on fields. The corn used for the tortillas I mean.

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u/bigE819 Pacers 1h ago

People forget, it’s not like his family gets an NBA Salary too

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u/OneBillPhil 58m ago

Well one of his kids do, but not all of them!

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u/905UserNotFound Raptors 1h ago

Poor LeBron can’t afford to build his own teleport machine so he has to settle for a helicopter 😪

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u/ratatoskish Spurs 38m ago

No BrondLe-Fly please. That would be a hell of a plot twist in his career though, wouldn't it?

1

u/king_lloyd11 Raptors 1h ago

Waiting for the Kalshi and Polymarket bets about whether LeBron is staying the night in Philly or NY

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u/burtoncummings Raptors 52m ago

Install a zipline?

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u/22dias 41m ago

LeCopter

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u/SuddenValley1899 40m ago

He's only going to make 3.9 million this season, poverty wages basically. 

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u/NoBonus6969 31m ago

Well wemby saves substantial money by just flapping his long arms and fly

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u/Otto_the_Autopilot NBA 15m ago

Seems like he is going to spend more on helicopter rides than the 76ers will be paying him.

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u/sushicowboyshow Spurs 1h ago

You had me in the first half

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u/AmityMayorVaughn Kings 1h ago edited 33m ago

With endorsements, LeBron barely even clears $1,000,0000 per game of basketball he plays.

Can we get him a GoFundMe at least?  Schroeder was absolutely correct with his comparison of the NBA to modern day slavery 

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u/WyngZero 39m ago

That was technically Dennis Schröder.

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u/AmityMayorVaughn Kings 33m ago

You're right, I mixed up my clowns 

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u/octobersveryknown Knicks 1h ago

Are these numbers right? Wembys career earnings being 7 percent of brons seems incredibly low for LeBron

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u/grey_fr 1h ago edited 41m ago

3 years in the league  vs 23 years is actually 13% so Wemby has averaged half of Lebron's earnings per year.

It does seem low if you consider Wemby has only ever been on a rookie contract, but the increasing cap and inflation mean a lot of star players drafted post 2020 might earn more than Lebron even with 15 year careers only

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u/inqte1 3m ago

When Lebron moved to the Heat after 7 years, the max were something in the range of $19-20m.

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u/digitalscavenger Bucks 1h ago

It's worth keeping in mind that $1 million 20 years ago is roughly $1.6 million today so those millions in his first decade in the league aren't apples to apples comparisons to Wemby's millions now.

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u/DonutStatus2048 43m ago

If you track general inflation, NBA Overall salaries or profit sharing, in terms of overall league revenue and sports in general, have risen past general inflation. It's a very simple supply-and-demand thing. If you look at it, there are the same number of teams there were 20 years ago, but a lot more people. There is a static amount of basketball as a product, but with growing demand, as opposed to other things, say, apples, where, yes, there's been overall inflation, but we produce more apples than we did 20 years ago, even though we consume more. Basketball has actually been increasing faster than general inflation.

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u/CosmicMiru 1h ago

Contracts have gotten really large as the NBA earns more and more money. Kobes 20 year career as a star has earned less in contracts than Damien Lillard

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u/ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME Warriors 1h ago

He's due for a big pay raise soon, his projected earnings for his current contract will exceed $300M by the time he's 28.

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u/Air2Jordan3 Cavaliers 1h ago

Wemby was making $13M as a rookie. It took LeBron's first 3 years combined to make $13M and he was making $16M/yr in Miami which are years 8-11 for him.

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u/whiterice_343 Timberwolves 58m ago

Then that Mike Conley contract happened and the league contracts took off

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u/WhoreyMatthews Spurs 54m ago

Is Mike Conley to blame for the inflation/cost of living crisis?

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u/whiterice_343 Timberwolves 53m ago

No, that would be Rudy Gobert.

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u/ttrree4455 Knicks 1h ago

I just looked them up. It does make sense since the contracts get larger the more years in the league, and rookie contracts are scaled smaller. Wembys upcoming near max extension will catch the number up a bit.

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u/pomofusion [IND] Reggie Miller 1h ago

Time value of money

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u/GiveMeMyCap 1h ago

had me in the first half

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u/SloshaPacana 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h ago

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

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u/SloshaPacana 1h 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 4m ago

It is absolutely a tiny amount for a billionaire

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u/kfee12 1h ago

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

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u/edin_dzekson 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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 1h 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

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u/DrRumackPhD 1h ago

If only Latrell Sprewell could have promoted sports betting companies while he was in the NBA. Maybe he would have been able to afford feeding his family.

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u/helgestrichen Mavericks 1h ago

Had me in the first part

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u/Blank_Canvas21 Spurs 52m ago

Yall don’t know. Wemby unfortunately shares another trait with a formerly beloved 2-way star the Spurs had years ago.

Wemby’s got some BS endorsement deal from Fred’s Fish Fry.

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u/dsbllr 52m ago

Finally someone who understands that LeBron is poor

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u/WilsonianJuno 40m ago

Don’t you know that the Euro is worth more than the dollar? That’s why Wemby’s $38.5m is worth more than lebron’s $581m. It makes sense for him to need to partner up with these markets if you really think about it. His wife’s best friend still flies coach, after all

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u/backtoschool901 53m ago

how are you this stupid he uses spotify with ads. I dont and i poor

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u/CroCGod73 Supersonics 49m ago

Doesn’t he know LeKalshi James has kids ? Those are expensive , especially when one of them is a pro athlete. Those camps ain’t cheap

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u/kindalikeacoustic Lakers 34m ago

Lebron can also call just about any company on the planet and say he wants to partner with them. And he still chose a gambling platform 

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u/mrjdk83 22m ago

It’s not challenging when LeBron’s net worth is $1.4 billion.

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u/beanbalance 15m ago

lebron is billionaire.

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u/Karsh14 12m ago

Wemby doesn’t have grown ass children to feed.

You are taking food right out of Bronny’s mouth if he doesn’t sign that deal.

/s

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u/PetrParker1960s 1h ago

Oh no, let's throw a pity party for the billionaire. Gambling is an addiction for people, and it is run ad nauseum on broadcasts, streaming, and podcasts.

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u/SteamingHotChocolate Celtics 1h ago

I don’t think you’re understanding the gravity of Lebron’s circumstances that OP is trying to communicate