Angel Reese Cashes In on $400 Bet With Paige Bueckers. The WNBA Might Have Something to Say About That.

Angel Reese made a joke Wednesday night that could cost her a lot more than $400. After the Atlanta Dream beat the Dallas Wings 82-81 on a game-winner from Allisha Gray, Reese walked into the postgame press conference and said, “Yeah, I’ll be requesting my Apple Pay after this.”

The punchline? She and Paige Bueckers allegedly made a $400 bet during All-Star Weekend on which of their teams would win their regular-season matchup. And the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement reportedly forbids players from wagering on league games, even if it’s a friendly bet between two stars.

The Bet That Won’t Go Away

A video of Reese and Bueckers discussing the bet was posted on the WNBA’s official X account during All-Star Weekend. The league deleted it quickly, but screenshots and clips are still floating around. According to Yahoo Sports’ Ishaan Bhattacharya, the CBA gives the league broad authority to punish players for gambling-related infractions, including “dismissal and disqualification” from the WNBA. That sounds extreme for a $400 bet between friends, but the league has been strict about gambling since the sports betting boom hit professional sports.

Reese finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals in the win. Bueckers put up 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and six assists. The Dream held Minnesota to 81 points and improved to 17-10. The Wings dropped to 18-10.

Reese Praises Bueckers Between Jokes

After the Apple Pay quip, Reese got serious for a minute. “Paige is a great player. I mean, when you hold her to 16 points, it’s tough. She’s just so good. Her midrange is obviously so good. But I think our defense tonight did a good job,” she said. Then she circled back to team stuff: “I’m just glad we got this win as a team. It felt really, really good.”

The WNBA hasn’t commented on the situation yet. The league could decide to fine both players, suspend them, or let it slide with a warning. Gambling rules in the CBA are written broadly enough to cover almost any kind of bet, but enforcing them on two of the league’s biggest names over a joke bet feels like a PR nightmare waiting to happen.

Reese is having an All-Star season. Bueckers is one of the faces of the league. If the WNBA drops the hammer, it’ll be interesting to see how the players association reacts. For now, Reese is $400 richer and waiting to see if her phone buzzes with more than just a payment notification.