One of basketball’s biggest stars re-tweeted an offshore bookmaker this weekend, despite the NBA’s plans to reinforce its legal gambling policies.
LeBron James re-tweeted a video from MyBookie, a sportsbook licensed in Curacao, which showed Los Angeles Angels baseball player Mike Trout stepping up to the plate.
MLB player Trout signed a contract with the Angels worth $426.5m over 12 years, giving him the best-paid deal in sport pre-sponsorship, with the video referencing that agreement.
It is not clear if Los Angeles Lakers forward James was paid any money for the re-tweet, but his post received 7,800 re-tweets itself and 55,890 likes.
Dustin Gouker, Managing Editor of LegalSportsReport.com and PlayNJ.com, made his thoughts clear. He tweeted: "January: NBA reinforcing gambling policy. Great! March: Biggest star in the game re-tweeting MyBookie."
LeBron James is retweeting an offshore sportsbook. I give up.
— Dustin Gouker (@DustinGouker) March 22, 2019
I guess you need to do better education, NBA https://t.co/u0hndkdDf1
The American Gaming Association’s Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Sara Slane, was direct in her support of Gouker’s remarks, tweeting: "Thank you! Ridiculous!"
In January, the NBA said it would be educating players and fans on the mistakes made with legalised sports betting.
The NBA said the English model, specifically the Premier League, is one they have looked at closely.
Mark Tatum, NBA Deputy Commissioner, told ESPN: "That really helped inform some of our thoughts on how sports betting could work in the United States. We're seeing a large shift now and a change in the landscape of sports betting in the US."
