The WNBA posted a video of players Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers betting on which team would win the All-Star game but then deleted the video after realizing that the gambling was both illegal and violated league rules.
The video posted to the WNBA’s official X account on Wednesday showed the Atlanta Dream’s Angel Reese — who was dumped by the Chicago Sky after less than two seasons — and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers waving around fistfuls of hundred-dollar bills and laying down bets over which team would win the WNBA All-Star Game.
The video shows Bueckers admitting that the two bet on the game and also features Reese saying, “I’m gonna see you next week on Wednesday. I know y’all gonna lose.”
Bueckers played for Team Spoon while Reese played for Team Coop during the game, with Team Spoon winning the contest 129-122.
The video, though, shocked many. Sportsman and Outkick owner Clay Travis, for instance, noted that “Players in the NFL have missed entire seasons for this. Legit the dumbest move, potentially, in social media history by a sports league to post this.”
The WNBA later explained that the video and X posting was a “mistake” that “missed the mark” and was meant to be a “lighthearted” moment for social media consumption to advertise the All-Star Game.
“While the social media post was intended to be lighthearted, WNBA players are well aware of the league’s policies prohibiting betting on WNBA games and receive training every year reinforcing those policies,” the league said in a statement. “We recognized that the post missed the mark, removed it shortly after it was published, and addressed the matter internally. We will also use this as an opportunity to reemphasize with the players involved that conversations about wagering on WNBA games, even when intended as a joke, can have negative consequences.”
According to the league’s own rules and its agreement with the players’ association, gambling on WNBA games is strictly prohibited, and those caught breaking the rule could be fined, suspended, or even disqualified from ever playing pro basketball again.
The league did not say whether it will place penalties on Bueckers or Reese or their teams. But it is also clear that the video was made in cooperation with the league’s own social media department.
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