Did Pat McAfee bet on LeBron James’ next team? What to know about accusations against controversial ESPN personality

LeBron James’ free-agency decision took a while, but on Friday, ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to share the news: James was heading to the Philadelphia 76ers.

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Charania’s post on X, which now has nearly 90 million views and more than 400,000 likes, credited James’ agent, Rich Paul, with providing information about his client’s destination. But now, a fellow ESPN star is drawing criticism, particularly from author and journalist Jeff Pearlman, for betting on James’ decision before information about the 76ers became public at 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday.

Pat McAfee said on his Friday show that he used a heads-up from Charania that James’ decision was coming as an opportunity to bet on James’ future team.

Here’s what to know about Pearlman’s criticism of McAfee for allegedly betting on James’ next team with potential inside information.

MORE LEBRON JAMES NEWS:

• Why LeBron James took massive pay cut to sign with 76ers
• First look at 76ers projected lineup with LeBron James
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• How LeBron James joining 76ers impacts NBA odds

Did Pat McAfee bet on LeBron James’ next team?

On Friday, after sharing the news that James was heading to Philadelphia on a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option in Year 2, Charania appeared on «The Pat McAfee Show» to break down the move.

As Charania was joining the show, McAfee acknowledged to his co-hosts that he used an advance word from Charania that morning to place a bet on James’ future team. There was no indication that Charania told McAfee it was the 76ers, but McAfee said he interpreted the insider’s invitation to come on the show that day as a sign that James’ decision was coming.

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“We were told by Shams, ‘You’re gonna want me on the show today,’” McAfee said. “So it’s like, OK, decision’s being made. I just hammered top four. He was at +700.”

McAfee continued by saying, “I do not know, OK, if it even worked,” but did not finish his thought before introducing Charania on the show.

MORE LEBRON JAMES NEWS: 

• Will 76ers trade for Bronny James?
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Jeff Pearlman Pat McAfee accusations

In a clip posted to TikTok, Pearlman later responded to McAfee’s comments about potentially using Charania’s indication as a way into the betting market. The author first played the clip of McAfee talking about his bets, then argued that ESPN’s business in the sports gambling landscape has overtaken its journalistic integrity and cited the network’s recent layoffs.

“ESPN just laid off a bunch of people, real reporters, real journalists, people who take this seriously. And we’re listening to Shams, who’s their NBA insider, on the show with the guy talking about how he used information that he received on his show from people involved with his show to gamble on where LeBron James is going,” Pearlman said on TikTok. “And this is just fine in modern media. And I know some of you people are like, ‘Can you just stop?’ It is so poisonous and so ruinous, gambling in sports, and it is crazy to me that ESPN keeps firing people, firing people, firing people, shedding salaries, shedding salaries, cutting this, cutting that, but the gambling thing they’re all in on.»

“And any remaining pretense, and I really mean this, any remaining pretense that ESPN is anything more than a moneymaking entity is bulls—. They’re not a journalistic entity anymore. They have relations with all the places they cover. They run a sportsbook, so they’re a gambling outlet now. They have guys like Pat McAfee, not just talking about gambling, and not just talking about lines, but saying how he’s taking the information he’s receiving as an ESPN person and then gambling on it. «And you have the NBA insider just nodding along and going, ‘Ha ha ha, he he he, oh yeah this is great, here’s the information I’m gonna give you.’ It is f—ing sick, seriously. It’s disgusting and disturbing.”

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@jeffpearlmanauthor Here’s ESPN’s Pat McAfee using info from Shams to gamble on LeBron. Nothing to see here. #patmcafee #lebron #shams #gambling #espn ♬ original sound — Jeff Pearlman