Victor Wembanyama rules out sports betting endorsements, citing his values

Victor Wembanyama said in San Antonio on Thursday, October 1, that he would never endorse a sports betting or prediction-market company. The Spurs star’s refusal draws a personal line in an NBA where players are allowed to make some betting-related deals and several prominent athletes already have them.

Asked after practice whether he would consider such a partnership, Wembanyama replied: “Absolutely not. I will never do that.” The Guardian and the San Antonio Express-News both reported the remarks from the Spurs’ training camp. His answer was a statement about the endorsements he would accept, not an announcement of a change to league rules.

Why Wembanyama says he will refuse betting deals

Wembanyama said he was saddened to see players promote gambling platforms. “Honestly, I think it’s very sad to see some players promote it,” he said. He also acknowledged their freedom to make their own choices, ending with “but without me.” According to the Express-News, he did not identify any player by name.

He described a change in how he weighs sponsorship offers. Money had once been part of the calculation, he said, but “not anymore.” Wembanyama said he had turned down offers worth much more than deals he accepted because the proposed promotions did not fit his values. Neither report identified those rejected offers or the companies behind them.

The refusal does not mean Wembanyama avoids commercial endorsements altogether. The Express-News lists Nike, Louis Vuitton, 2K Sports, Fanatics and hydration brand Barcode among his existing partners. It also reports that he appears in local H-E-B commercials. Those deals provide context for his distinction between taking sponsorships and promoting betting.

How betting endorsements fit within NBA rules

The Express-News reports that NBA rules permit players to endorse betting and prediction-market sites, provided the promotions do not involve wagers on specific NBA games or entities. That account is the basis for the rule described here. The National Basketball Players Association’s public page confirms that the current collective bargaining agreement took effect on July 1, 2023, and runs through the 2029-30 season, subject to an earlier opt-out.

The league has commercial links to betting businesses as well. Its official gaming partners page lists DraftKings and FanDuel as domestic official gaming partners, alongside other authorized operators. Wembanyama’s comments concern the use of his own name in endorsements within that wider commercial setting; neither news report describes a new Spurs or NBA policy prompted by his remarks.

Which NBA players have betting-related ties?

The Express-News reports that Kevin Durant is a paid FanDuel spokesman and that Giannis Antetokounmpo is a shareholder in prediction-market company Kalshi. It also reports that LeBron James signed a $15 million endorsement deal with Polymarket. The Guardian separately describes Durant’s FanDuel deal and Kalshi investment, Antetokounmpo’s Kalshi holding and Nikola Jokić’s ambassadorship for Superbet in Serbia.

Those examples show why Wembanyama’s answer drew attention, but they should not be read as a list of players he criticized individually. The Express-News specifically says he named no one. His quoted objection was to promoting betting as a category, followed by an acknowledgment that others could make their own decisions.

For now, the outcome is a clearly stated position on future offers: Wembanyama says he will refuse betting and prediction-market promotions, even though he accepts endorsements in other categories. The reports do not establish that he was responding to a particular offer, and they identify no resulting change in league policy. His stated reason is that he wants the messages attached to his name to reflect the influence he hopes to have.