Drake is a partner of Stakes, an online betting platform that allows you to bet on cryptocurrencies. On her Instagram account, she posted a photo of her bet: $500,000 in Bitcoin for the Dallas Mavericks to win the 2024 NBA.
If the Dallas Mavericks had won, Drake could have cashed in $1.375 million in Bitcoin. But it was the Boston Celtics who won tonight, in the fifth game of the series, winning 4-1. The singer is no stranger to sports betting; its partnership with Stake began in 2022 and the image and advertising made by Drake contributed greatly to the popularity of the application.
Drake’s bets
The bet on the NBA Finals is not Drizzy’s (Drake) first. He had also recently bet on another important match, that of the main hockey league, the NHL by placing a bet of $500,000 on the Edmonton Oilers win. If they had won, the rapper would have earned $1.025 million in BTC. If not, Drake would have lost $1 million in two sports bets, the NHL outcome still hangs in the balance.
In addition to the two already mentioned, there were others from various competitions such as football, Formula 1 and MMA, bets that often did not end well like the one reported above, where Barcelona, indicated as winners, lost against Real Madrid . Drizzy hasn’t been particularly lucky with this type of betting, curious to note like the logo of his record label EGG it’s actually an owl, placed as a sponsor on one of Barcelona’s shirts.
But not just sports, Drake also bet huge sums on online roulette and other games in some live shows, on which he was generally luckier than with sports betting.
Online betting sites have experienced significant growth in recent years, even those that allow the use of cryptocurrencies to take advantage of the flexibility and speed of payments. This market has grown a lot in recent years: from 472 million euros in 2017, the sector reached 1.3 billion euros in 2021.
It is important to remember that, as Drake has just demonstrated, you can lose as much as you can win by betting, and it is always important to bet correctly by not gambling sums of money that could compromise your personal situation (Drizzy will probably not have any economic repercussions as a result of this loss). According to a study carried out in 2021 by the National Gaming Authority (ANJ), of the 3 million people who had bet that year, only 1,280 had earned more than 10,000 euros in a year.
NBA Finals 2024
To ruin Drake’s party, 16 years after the last time, it was the Boston Celtics who returned to dominate the NBA, winning their 18th title. In a game 5 controlled from start to finish, without ever going behind, the Celtics imposed their supremacy, reaching the +26 in the second half and finishing the season with an outstanding record of 80 victories and 21 defeats between regular season and playoffs.
If on paper, before the start of the series, the Celtics were favorites but a very interesting and hard-fought series was expected against the Doncic and Irving’s Mavs; already after the first game it was noticed that Boston was the better equipped and prepared team of the two to win the title.
The best player on the pitch in Game 5 106-88 (series 4-1) was Jayson Tatumwho came close to a triple double with 31 points and 11 assists, while Jaylen Browndespite a fluctuating match, was awarded as Finals MVP. The contribution for the entire series is crucial Jrue Holidaywith a double double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, which after the title won with the Bucks in his first year, he repeated in his first year in Boston.
A memorable event was the sacrifice of Derrick White, who lost a tooth during a fight for a loose ball, demonstrating the total commitment of the players. Finally, a special mention goes to Al Horford, who at 38 years old capped his career with his first title after 186 playoff games. The victory not only brings the Celtics back to the top of the NBA, but also takes the lead in the roll of honor with 18 titlessurpassing the 17 of the Los Angeles Lakers.
