LeBron James appeared to announce a new partnership with Polymarket on Saturday via a social media post, teasing something called “Polymarket HQ” that would be “coming soon.”
Polymarket is one of many prediction markets that have elbowed their way into the mainstream alongside Kalshi, PredictIt, and several other less prominent options. These are gambling apps to anyone with eyes, but just muddy enough from a legal perspective that they can play pretty loose with rules regarding gambling, offering bets on everything from international political upheaval to weather events.
Further, while betting at a sportsbook means you are technically betting against the house, prediction markets are designed so that when a person hits on a big payday, they are taking money from other users rather than the house. They are also allegedly great for insider trading, if you are into that sort of thing.
Anyways, James is now partnered with one of these such companies. He is far from the first athlete or sports brand to align with a prediction market. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Kalshi guy, and Major League Baseball and the NHL both have official partnerships with prediction markets. But James is an individual rather than a faceless sporting entity, and while Giannis is famous, LeBron is one of the most famous athletes to ever exist.
The response towards James in the wake of the announcement was a resounding “Come on man, really?”
You don’t have enough money ??
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) September 5, 2026
A fkn billionaire promoting gambling just to make a couple extra bucks
— Alan (@BilI_Laimbeer) September 5, 2026
Spent your whole life telling kids to chase their dreams then end up selling this to them 😂
— ACTIONMAN (@Ac7ionMann) September 5, 2026
Some argued that James’s endorsement of Polymarket was enough to swing the GOAT debate back away from him in favor of Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan would never promote gambling like this. The true GOAT
— THUMP (@THump) September 5, 2026
You just fell from GOAT Status for me.
— Civ (@MisterCiv) September 5, 2026
Jordan was a gambling addict and even he wouldnt do this
— Its_Coach_Steve (@Its_Coach_Steve) September 5, 2026
congrats @michaeljordan https://t.co/6kfzD3VcCH
— iris 🖤 (@irisketball) September 5, 2026
jordan was just gambling for himself while lebron is promoting gambling to children. jordan >>>> https://t.co/DwD9vcJ3HM
— ✨ (@_veryhateful) September 5, 2026
The greatest of all time pic.twitter.com/9GqLhKAWtj https://t.co/0zJaIOgEaH
— Russ’ TD ⚡ (@RussFcb) September 5, 2026
It’s possible that LeBron’s deal with Polymarket is the best case Jordan stans have had in the GOAT debate since the premiere of The Last Dance. Honestly, has LeBron even attempted to win a NASCAR race yet?
The backlash to James is just the latest bit of anti-prediction market sentiment to come to rise in the past few days alone. A recent partnership between the San Francisco Giants and Kalshi resulted in a social media post that everyone recognized as gross. The union of the New York Times just pushed back on a potential deal that would link The Athletic as an official partner with Kalshi. And on Wednesday, one of Polymarket’s social accounts altered a photo of Ball State’s quarterback to make him look bigger in an attempt to score internet points.
About Tyler Lauletta
Tyler is a editorial contributor at Awful Announcing, with previous stops at Sports Illustrated and Business Insider during his career covering sports in digital media. He is, begrudgingly, a Truster of the Process and general Philly sports sicko.