LeBron James and Kevin Hart Called Out by Finance Professor and Therapist for Promoting Predatory Finance Through Sports Gambling
Dr. Boyce Watkins, a Finance PhD and founder of The Black Business School, and his wife, Dr. Alicia Watkins, a licensed therapist and Full Professor of Social Work at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, are publicly calling out LeBron James and Kevin Hart for promoting sports betting as entertainment — when it is rapidly becoming one of the most dangerous forms of predatory finance in modern America.
Sports gambling is exploding at an alarming rate. Legal wagers in the U.S. have surged from under $5 billion in 2017 to over $120 billion in 2023, driven largely by aggressive celebrity-backed marketing and mobile apps designed to addict users. The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates 2.5 million Americans now suffer from severe gambling addiction, with millions more at risk. Young men are being hit the hardest, and families are paying the price through debt, depression, and financial collapse.
