LeBron's deal with Polymarket is drawing scrutiny. James reportedly signed a $15 million deal with the prediction market company, focusing on football markets rather than the NBA. Many are raising red flags, as James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers for a veteran's minimum, while his Polymarket contract pays him five times more than his deal with the Sixers.
While parallels to the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration case are hard to apply here (as James has been actively promoting the company on his social media accounts and in commercials), The Athletic's Jason Lloyd believes the deal raises several questions for James and the NBA.
“The NBA has built an extraordinarily intricate system to govern how much its players can be paid to play basketball,” Lloyd wrote. “The Clippers just learned how fiercely the league intends to defend it. LeBron’s Polymarket deal suggests that fight may soon look quaint. The money outside the game has grown too large to ignore, and the closer it moves to the people inside the game, the harder it becomes to tell where one ends and the other begins.”
Specifically, LeBron James has faced scrutiny when compared to Spurs star and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama over his stance on personal endorsements of gambling companies.
Article Continues Below“I will never do that,” he said. “Honestly, I think it’s very sad to see some players promote it.”
This isn't James's first time endorsing a company that lets users place bets on sporting events. In February 2024, LeBron James inked a partnership with DraftKings as their talent ambassador, specifically geared toward football in the 2024 and 2025 NFL seasons.
James starred in commercials promoting DraftKings during the NFL season alongside comedian Kevin Hart, but after his deal with DraftKings expired, he became a free agent as an endorser and ultimately chose to partner with Polymarket. James's deal comes as the NBA looks to bring one of the prediction market companies in as a league sponsor. The NBA allows players to endorse sports betting companies under the new CBA, as long as they promote general company functions and do not relate to the NBA.