NBA players are earning millions from sponsorship deals on Instagram — but a significant chunk of that revenue may be coming from fake followers.
A new report by sports betting analysts at SiGMA Play has revealed how bots are inflating the earnings of some of basketball’s biggest names.
Topping the list is LeBron James, who boasts 159 million Instagram followers. According to the analysis, 26.46% of his following — over 42 million accounts — are fake. Despite this, LeBron could be earning as much as \$505,620 per sponsored post, with an estimated \$133,787 of that coming from these phantom fans.
Steph Curry follows in second, with 25.26% of his 58.1 million followers classified as bots. That could be adding \$46,670 to his total \$184,758 per post. Shaquille O’Neal ranks third, with nearly 9.5 million fake followers making up 27% of his audience. That translates to \$30,092 of his \$111,618 per post earnings linked to inauthentic accounts.
NBA legend Michael Jordan lands in fourth place. Of his 27.1 million followers, around 26.75% — over 7.2 million — are fake. These bots could be adding over \$23,000 to his Instagram revenue. Rounding out the top five is Russell Westbrook, whose 22.9 million followers include more than 6.3 million fake accounts, contributing an estimated \$20,077 per post.
While LeBron leads in total fake follower count, former NBA forward Grant Hill has the highest proportion overall. A staggering 35.13% of his Instagram followers are bots, followed closely by Luol Deng (33.63%) and Isiah Thomas (33.39%).
The findings highlight how NBA stars — knowingly or not — are profiting from inflated social media numbers. As brands increasingly rely on influencer marketing, the presence of fake followers could raise concerns about authenticity and ROI for advertisers targeting sports audiences.
Photo: David Berding/Getty Images
