

The list of issues that Commissioner Adam Silver has had to manage this season just keeps growing. Be it the betting case, the Clippers’ alleged involvement in circumventing the salary cap, or a high number of teams tanking this season. Now, another situation has landed on his desk, this time involving Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and his decision to become a shareholder in prediction market platform Kalshi.
Kalshi is not a sportsbook, but a federally regulated prediction market, allowing users to trade on the outcomes of real-world events. But in the sporting sense, fans can still put their money on the outcome, and any NBA player associated with such brands will lead to more doubts about the league’s integrity. But for now, Adam Silver is not particularly worried about Antetokounmpo’s investment.
“So we are currently looking at prediction markets essentially in the same way that we’re looking at sports betting companies,” said Silver during NBA All-Star media day. “That means their investment cannot amount to over 1%. In the case of Giannis, from what I understand. It’s a minuscule investment, much smaller than 1%, so that does not violate the rules that have been collectively bargained with the Players’ Association.”
Now, sports journalist Joon Lee highlighted the appropriate amount that the 2x MVP could have invested in this company.
“Adam Silver calls Giannis’s investment in Kalshi “minuscule” and “much smaller than 1%” Kalshi is worth $11 Billion. Giannis is allowed to own up to 1% under NBA rules. 1% of Kalshi is worth $110,000,000. 0.5% of Kalshi is worth $55,000,000.”
Adam Silver calls Giannis’s investment in Kalshi “minuscule” and “much smaller than 1%”
Kalshi is worth $11 Billion.
Giannis is allowed to own up to 1% under NBA rules.
1% of Kalshi is worth $110,000,000.
0.5% of Kalshi is worth $55,000,000 https://t.co/LsPGp3B9Ae— Joon Lee (@joonlee) February 14, 2026
Kalshi had raised a massive $1 billion round at an $11 billion valuation last year. So the calculations from Lee are not wrong. Yet, NBA fans aren’t thrilled about Giannis’ latest investment. Their reasoning primarily is that players shouldn’t associate themselves with any prediction/betting platform. Some fans even demanded a federal investigation and questioned the Bucks star’s involvement in the drama surrounding the trade deadline.
Before the trade deadline, more than $23 million was put down speculating on Antetokounmpo’s future at Kalshi before he ended up staying put in Milwaukee. While Adam Silver sees no law broken here, the company also went forward and clearly defined Antetokounmpo’s role.
“As an active player in the NBA, Antetokounmpo will be forbidden from trading on markets related to the NBA,” Kalshi added in the statement. Citing its insider trading and integrity policies, which prohibited any active NBA player from trading on NBA-related markets under its terms of service. For now, there are no official reports that put Giannis Antetokounmpo’s investments in doubt. Silver’s comments only bring further relief to the $11 billion brand and its newest shareholder.
Adam Silver calls team tanking a worse situation
The Commissioner agreed that “tanking,” the decades-old practice of teams losing intentionally to ensure a better draft pick, is worse this season than in years past. In fact, the league is not quiet on this matter and has put teams on notice. This week, the Utah Jazz were levied $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 heavy fines from the league. But the meetings did not stop here.
“Not just those fines, but to my statement that we’re going to be looking more closely at the totality of all the circumstances this season in terms of teams’ behavior, and very intentionally wanted teams to be on notice,” Silver added.
The league already made efforts to discourage teams from tanking. They have already flattened the odds by introducing the play-in tournament. More measures could be forthcoming as the legislature could also take away draft picks. There are also rumblings that the commissioner planned to organize a tournament among lottery teams to determine the draft order.

