LeBron James made three NFL picks, plugged Polymarket, and somehow Michael Jordan ended up winning the comments section. The reported $15 million price tag attached to LeBron’s new deal only gave critics more ammunition, especially once fans started questioning why a billionaire athlete was pushing a prediction-market platform to his audience. Then Jordan fans piled in, turning a 38-second football promo into another argument over which superstar handled his influence better.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
LeBron’s Polymarket promo lasted just 38 seconds, with the caption reading, “Week 2, we’re LOCKED IN Polymarket Partner.” The comments quickly took the conversation somewhere else.
LeBron backed Washington over Dallas, Kansas City over Indianapolis, and Los Angeles over New York in his Week 2 picks.
“What’s going on, everybody? Week 2 football is here,” James said in the video. “You know what time it is. It’s time for my weekly picks. Let’s go. If you’re trying to get in on my picks, Polymarket is giving you a bonus on your first deposit.
“So Sunday, we’ve got Washington at Dallas. I’ve got Washington coming out victorious. We’ve got Indianapolis at KC. KC’s offense is back, so I’ve got KC at home. For the Monday night game, we’ve got New York at Los Angeles. That’s going to be a tough pick, but I’ve got LA coming out victorious.”
The backlash was not really about LeBron’s NFL picks. It was about the partnership behind them.
According to Front Office Sports, James is reportedly earning $15 million annually through his new partnership with Polymarket, putting another NBA superstar directly into the growing debate around prediction markets and sports betting. That scrutiny has already extended to other league figures with financial ties to such platforms, including Giannis Antetokounmpo’s reported ownership stake in Kalshi.
LeBron closed the video by directing fans to Polymarket and encouraging them to use his promo code, but the backlash had already found another opening. A Community Note appeared beneath the post, stating, “X policy requires official Paid Partnership label, not just caption text.”
LeBron had written “Polymarket Partner” in the caption but did not appear to use X’s platform-generated Paid Partnership label. Under X’s disclosure rules, sponsored posts are supposed to carry that official designation, giving critics another reason to pile onto the promotion.
Fans mock LeBron James’ choice of promotion
The size of the deal also opened another lane for criticism. James is set to make $3.876 million from the 76ers this season, while Polymarket is reportedly paying him $15 million annually. That puts the endorsement at nearly four times his NBA salary. Given the fresh scrutiny surrounding Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers’ salary-cap circumvention case, some fans were quick to draw their own comparisons.
One fan summed up that reaction with a sarcastic jab: “He’s only getting $15M a year for these btw. Seems extremely low to me.”
The Jordan comparison also gave another fan a chance to shift the conversation back to his basketball résumé. The Bulls legend finished 6-0 in the NBA Finals and owns a 30.1-point career scoring average, both figures that remain central to his case among fans who rank him above LeBron James. Rather than debate the Polymarket deal itself, the fan posted a montage of MJ’s biggest moments.
“Better ball player, got richer ethically.”
Another netizen and Michael Jordan fan created a different montage, but his sentiment was the same: “We would never stoop this low.”
One fan focused on the difference between being associated with gambling and actively promoting it, writing, “Jordan might’ve had a gambling addiction, but he didn’t sell it to his fans.” MJ faced years of public scrutiny over his gambling habits, but there is no established basis to state that he had a gambling addiction.
LeBron James’ role focuses on promoting football rather than basketball. But for some fans, there is no distinction because the four-time NBA champion is now using his enormous platform to promote a prediction-market company.
“Why’s this guy begging people to gamble… at least Jordan didn’t preach it.”
The fan’s perspective was that Jordan’s gambling controversies were largely about his personal behavior rather than an endorsement campaign.
The reactions ultimately show that the backlash has moved well beyond James’ NFL picks. For some fans, the issue is the decision to promote prediction markets. For others, it has become another opening to revisit the Jordan-LeBron debate.