LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo are coming under fire from fans over their promotion of gambling. Both James and Antetokounmpo put out posts on X on Tuesday night, with the former urging his followers to bet on DraftKings.
“Slipsmas is here! Want to win a $500 bonus bet from DraftKings? Place your bet, post it on X using #Slipsmas, and follow DraftKings Sportsbook for a shot. Happy Holidays!”
Slipsmas is here! Want to win a $500 bonus bet from DraftKings? 🏈🎁
Place your bet, post it on X using #Slipsmas and follow @DKSportsbook for a shot. Happy holidays!! 😃#DKPartner pic.twitter.com/5d8AQqfQjn
— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 24, 2024
Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, wanted his followers to keep an eye on Betano’s accounts.
“Betano came through this Xmas Keep an eye on their accounts for something special.”
Betano came through this Xmas Keep an eye on their accounts for something special…#GiannisxBetano pic.twitter.com/D474bAtHT1
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) December 24, 2024
NBA fans on Reddit understandably ripped James and Antetokounmpo for promoting gambling on Christmas.
“I have no respect for athletes who promote sports gambling,” a fan blasted all athletes who promote sports gambling.
“LeBron needs to drop his philanthropist act,” a fan wanted James to stop acting like he is a philanthropist.”
“Yeah I love Giannis but it’s gross to see him do this, you got more than enough money man,” a Bucks fan was disgusted by Antetokounmpo’s act.
“Sell-outs lmao,” a fan called James and Antetokounmpo sell-outs.
“So tired of this s***. F*** all these c**** promoting this,” a fan is tired of people promoting gambling.
“Sure, let’s prey on the poor and entice them to gamble for Christmas. Bunch of out-of-touch clowns. How sad,” a fan criticized James and Antetokounmpo for playing their part in the poor being preyed on.
“Adam Silver’s league baby. No fun, just gambling ads and end of games are talked about via refs f***ing it all up,” one fan called out NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
James is a billionaire and will have made $528 million in salaries after this 2024-25 season. Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, will have career earnings of $283 million after this campaign. It’s often said you can never have enough money, but surely these two do not need to promote gambling when they have made hundreds of millions.
James and Antetokounmpo have greatly disappointed fans by doing this. You’d hope they would think twice before doing this again the next time, but that’s unlikely. They clearly don’t see a problem with this.
What angers fans even further is players calling them out over parlays after promoting gambling. Kevin Durant, for one, routinely destroys fans for blaming players for failed parlays. I don’t condone players getting death threats over this, but, to an extent, you understand some fans getting frustrated.
In an ideal world, there would be no sports gambling but we don’t live in one. This is just the reality and we all have to accept it.
James will be in action on Christmas, as the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center at 8 PM ET. Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks aren’t playing on Wednesday, though, with their next game being against the Brooklyn Nets at Fiserv Forum on Thursday at 8 PM ET.
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