The WNBA appears to have turned a $400 player-to-player joke into a league office headache. A video showing Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers discussing a wager on Wednesday’s Atlanta Dream-Dallas Wings game was deleted, but not before the clip escaped into the wild. Reese then won the game—and publicly asked for her Apple Pay.
Deleted WNBA Clip Put The Bet On Camera
According to the Los Angeles Times, the league’s now-deleted post showed Bueckers being asked about a wager she and Reese had made during All-Star weekend. The clip then appeared to show the two players joking that the winner of the Dream-Wings matchup would collect $400.
Reese finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds as Atlanta escaped with an 82-81 victory, while Bueckers scored 16 points in the loss. In the Atlanta Dream’s official postgame video, Reese laughed about the wager and said she would be “requesting my Apple Pay,” while a later X post included the hashtag #cuatrocientos, or “four hundred.”
What The WNBA’s New CBA Says About Betting
The league’s newly signed collective bargaining agreement is now at the center of the awkward viral moment. The WNBA’s announcement confirms the agreement was finalized in May, while the Times reported that Article XIV, Section 5(c) allows fines, suspensions, dismissal or disqualification for players found, after a hearing, to have wagered on any WNBA competition.
That language appears broader than a sportsbook-only ban and does not expressly carve out a friendly side bet between players on opposing teams. Still, the available video does not establish whether money changed hands or how the league would ultimately interpret the exchange.
As of Thursday, the WNBA, the players’ union, the Dream and the Wings had not publicly announced discipline or confirmed an investigation, according to the Los Angeles Times. That leaves the league with an unusually messy question: whether to punish two of its biggest young stars for a small personal wager—or explain why its own social team posted a clip that could be read as showing them breaking the rules.
