At Least One NBA Player Lost Multiple Bets Over Whether the Luka Trade was Real

Stephen Douglas | Feb 4, 2025

Ziaire Williams guards Luka Doncic back in 2023. Williams couldn’t believe Dallas traded Doncic. / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Luka Doncic trade was a big surprise, which has been mentioned in every single post, article, television segment and podcast opening monologue over the last 60 hours. Since no one was inclined to believe the news was real at first, there is no limit to the number of people who were shocked by the deal and everyone has their own story about where they were and who they shared their shock with when they first heard the news.

Ziaire Williams of the Brooklyn Nets was so sure the news wasn't real that he bet multiple teammates that it was fake news. Now he's hundreds of dollars in debt to his teammates. Sure, it's a drop in the bucket for an NBA player making $6 million this season, but nobody likes to lose a bet or be reminded that they could be traded at any moment.

Ziaire Williams said he lost a bet with his Nets teammates that the Luka trade was fake:

"I lost a bet with a couple of guys. I owe about $300... Shoot, Luka, I thought they were already building his statue [in Dallas]. Hey man, that's the NBA for you. Nobody's safe." pic.twitter.com/6exPeBU16F

— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) February 3, 2025

"Yeah it was crazy," said Williams. "I actually lost a bet. I lost a bet with a couple guys because I thought it was fake. So I owe about $300 to some of these guys."

Williams then reflected on what it meant for players as he echoed Nikola Jokic's thought that "nobody's safe."

"Yeah, I mean yeah, I mean shoot, Luka," Williams continued. "I thought they were already building his statue. That's the NBA for you. Nobody's safe and everybody has their own vision of what winning looks like so, you just never know."

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