LeBron James and Luka Dončić, once Los Angeles Lakers teammates, are now united in a legal fight against the same target: an AI-powered sports betting app accused of using their images without permission. Spokespeople for both players said their legal teams sent cease-and-desist orders to the company behind Bron AI, demanding it stop using their likenesses in promotional material.
The dispute centers on a promotional video posted to social media on November 4 that showed a player wearing a No. 23 jersey with the name “Bron” on the back, scrolling through a phone and placing wagers on NBA players, with Dončić’s name and image appearing on the screen, according to The Athletic. Attorneys for both stars demanded their likenesses be removed from the betting application, which also used James’s nickname, the outlet reported. A person close to Dončić confirmed to the New York Post that a cease-and-desist letter had also been sent to PlayVision Inc., the company that owns Bron AI, on his behalf.
A Viral Ad With a Growing Cast of Athletes
The ad did not stop at James and Dončić. It also included images of Donovan Mitchell, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Christian McCaffrey and Jayden Daniels, per the reporting from Front Office Sports, with the New York Post separately noting Dillon Brooks appeared as well. The clip spread fast, racking up more than 900,000 views in less than 24 hours according to Front Office Sports’ report.
Accounts differ on how long the ad stayed online. Front Office Sports reported the ad was removed from X but remained up on Instagram at the time of its report, while The Athletic reported the post was taken down by Thursday afternoon. Front Office Sports was first to report the cease-and-desist demands.
What the Letters Demand
James’s letter went further than a simple takedown request. The demand required that Bron AI stop using his likeness and notify every person who had used the app, in writing, that James had no involvement with the company, the outlet reported. A spokesperson for James reinforced that point directly, telling Front Office Sports that “LeBron is in no way affiliated with this unauthorized use of his likeness.”
The commercial stakes matter here. James has an exclusive endorsement agreement with Polymarket, a prediction-market platform, according to The Athletic’s reporting, which makes an unauthorized appearance in a rival betting app particularly fraught for his brand. Dončić, by contrast, has no endorsements with any gambling or prediction-market company, the same report noted — meaning the ad placed his image in a business relationship that does not exist.
Bron AI’s Business Model
Bron AI markets itself as a tool that aggregates sportsbook and prediction-market data and odds, allowing users to identify potentially profitable wagers and automatically place bets on other apps, Front Office Sports reported. Its Pro subscription reportedly runs $249.99 annually or $29.99 monthly. The app is owned by PlayVision Inc., which was founded in 2025 and is backed by venture-capital firm Y Combinator, according to the outlet’s reporting.
A Pattern Dončić’s Camp Says Is Getting Worse
Dončić’s business manager told The Athletic that unauthorized use of his name or likeness is becoming more frequent as artificial-intelligence tools get easier to use and copycat apps multiply, saying, “this is something we’re dealing with more and more, especially as AI tools get easier to use and apps like these proliferate.” It’s not an isolated complaint across the league, either. In May, an attorney for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sent a cease-and-desist to the fantasy-sports company Underdog over a promotional item, and Underdog reportedly refused to comply, per Front Office Sports. James himself has been down this road before: in July 2025, he demanded that the creators of a separate tool called Interlink AI stop allowing videos that used his likeness.
James’s longtime media advisor, Adam Mendelsohn, offered a sharper take on the Bron AI episode in comments carried by the New York Post, characterizing the ad as another example of what he sees as declining originality in sports media and framing it as built around cheap clicks and aggregation — while noting some sports pundits engage in similar aggregation themselves. Mendelsohn also said he suspected the ad was designed specifically to provoke a cease-and-desist letter for the social media attention it would generate, adding that James would have preferred not to respond at all but felt he had no choice.
Federal law under 15 U.S.C. § 1125 generally prohibits conduct likely to cause confusion about a person’s affiliation, sponsorship or approval of a commercial product, along with misrepresentations in advertising, according to the U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel. The statute does not by itself establish whether it applies to Bron AI or whether any violation occurred here, and no court filing or ruling in this dispute has been made public. Whether PlayVision complies with the demands from James and Dončić, or whether the ad has come down from every platform where it circulated, remains unresolved.
