Prior to the July 29 matchup between the Atlanta Dream and the Dallas Wings, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers made a playful $400 bet on who would win the game. But everything quickly spiraled when the WNBA got in on the joke.
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Ahead of Wednesday’s matchup, the league’s social media team reminded the world about the wager and posted a clip of that on X, captioning it, “Paige Bueckers on the bet she made with Angel Reese at All-Star Weekend on tonight’s matchup.” But the league had to delete that post after it was met with heavy backlash. Now, less than 24 hours later, the league has finally explained why such posts “can have negative consequences”.
“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 its 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,” they added.
Players placing wagers on games is not allowed as per WNBA guidelines, specifically mentioned under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement which was signed earlier this year. The CBA is very strict about this policy and even outlines the possible repercussions under Section 5(c).
“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.”
While the wording of the policy is strict, it does not appear Angel Reese or Bueckers will face discipline. According to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, neither player is expected to receive any punishment.
It is worth noting, though, that while the league addressed the incident off the court, Angel Reese wasn’t about to leave $400 on the table.
The Dream forward delivered one of her best performances of the season by finishing the night with 22 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Bueckers finished with 16 points, four rebounds and six assists for Dallas, which controlled much of the game before Dream guard Allisha Gray scored five clutch points in the closing seconds to lift Atlanta to a very close 82-81 victory.
So once the game came to an end, Reese couldn’t resist having the last laugh.
“I’ll be requesting my Apple Pay after this,” she joked during her postgame press conference.
She won’t be doing that if the league has anything to do with it.