The WNBA has largely avoided sports betting controversies involving its players. Now the league may have created one.
The WNBA posted a now-deleted video to multiple official social media accounts of Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese appearing to bet $400 during All-Star weekend on an upcoming game between the Dallas Wings and Atlanta Dream.
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That game was played on Wednesday night, and the Dream defeated the Wings at home, 82–81.
Video showed Bueckers being asked backstage before Wednesday’s game if he remembered betting with Reese.
“Did we?” Bueckers responded, before the video showed a moment from last weekend between the two players practicing for the All-Star Game.
“If you’re going to win, you get $400,” Reese told Bueckers in Chicago.
The video ended with Bueckers, from Atlanta, saying the bet was still live: “Bet. I’m standing on that.”
The WNBA posted the video Wednesday before the game between the Wings and Dream, then removed it shortly after. The WNBA, Dream, Wings, and representatives for Reese and Bueckers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After the game, Reese celebrated his win on X/Twitter, writing “DUBS IN THE MF CHAT” and including the hashtag #cuatrocientos, Spanish for 400. (Reese’s post is still up as of Thursday morning.)
The collective bargaining agreement has a clear ban on players gambling in the WNBA at any position, but it also gives the league’s commissioner wide latitude in deciding how players are disciplined. Article XIV Section 5 (c) reads as follows:
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“Any player found by the Commissioner after a hearing to be guilty of betting (directly or indirectly), or of offering or attempting to bet, money or anything of value on the score, score, or any other part of any WNBA contest shall, in the discretion of the Commissioner, be subject to a fine, suspension, and/or expulsion and withdrawal from any WNBA.”
The same section of the CBA states that the commissioner can ban players from “any other association with the WNBA” if they are found to have fixed games.
It is not clear whether Bueckers or Reese will be punished.
The NBA, which owns 42% of the WNBA, has been involved in several sports betting scandals involving Terry Rozier and Malik Beasley. The NBA also banned Jontay Porter for life in 2024 after he was found to be betting and influencing his players.
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And it’s not the first time this past week that the WNBA’s official social media account has deleted a public post about Bueckers.
During the WNBA All-Star Weekend, the league removed a video of Bueckers talking about her weekend plans while inside a Chicago hotel. The original post showed the hotel logo in the background, revealing the Bueckers property. Finally it was removed and reloaded with a blurred background.
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