Paige Bueckers Angel Reese Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
By Matt Yoder on

The proliferation of sports betting and legalized gambling has led to a series of scandals across pro and college sports. Traditionally, players betting on their own games has been seen as a red line for all major pro sports.

Apparently not so for the WNBA, though!

The WNBA posted a video of star players Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese from All-Star Weekend before their two teams were set to play on Wednesday night, with the Atlanta Dream facing the Dallas Wings.

The video featured Bueckers and Reese placing what appears to be a personal $400 wager between the two over whose team would win the game. It was initially presented with a fun and light-hearted message. The caption read, “We did?” with a laughing emoji followed by, “Paige Bueckers on the bet she made with Angel Reese at All-Star Weekend on tonight’s matchup.”

But soon after posting the video, the WNBA must have realized what they did and moved quickly to delete it. But not, of course, before it could be captured by others on social media.

This is a bit of a problem for the WNBA, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers. The league’s new CBA clearly states that any kind of wagering is strictly prohibited and that players could be fined, suspended, or even disqualified from the WNBA at the sole discretion of the commissioner.

Section 5(c) of the new WNBA clearly states, “Any player found by the Commissioner after a hearing to have been guilty of wagering (directly or indirectly), or of offering or attempting to wager, money or anything of value on the outcome, score, or any other aspect of any WNBA Competition shall, in the sole discretion of the Commissioner, be subject to a fine, suspension, and/or dismissal and disqualification from any further association with the WNBA.”

Is Cathy Engelbert going to ban Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese over a friendly wager? Absolutely not. Is this a real scandal with legs? Also most likely not. Friendly wagers like this between competitors are probably happening every day across sports everywhere. Given their popularity and endorsements, a few hundred bucks is pocket change. It’s not like we’re talking about players actively manipulating lines and throwing contests here, as we’ve seen in other actual sports betting scandals.

But is it an unnecessary headache for the WNBA to actively promote two of their most well-known athletes betting on a game? Absolutely. The WNBA is going to have to address this both internally and externally. And given how Cathy Engelbert is the most embattled commissioner in pro sports, it’s a nightmare scenario and a no-win situation. Treat this like it’s nothing, and it’ll be seen as a passive endorsement of players gambling on games. Come down with a major fine or suspension, and the players will rightfully call out the league for promoting it and ask why the league is being so heavy-handed.

Why the WNBA thought this was a good idea to actively promote themselves, given all the possible implications and reactions, is truly mind-blowing. And given all the drama that has followed the WNBA throughout the season, a self-inflicted controversy like this is the last thing the league needs.

About Matt Yoder

View all posts by Matt Yoder