Politicians getting in on the success of sports teams within their state is nothing new. It's free, easy, and positive press to ride the success of a hometown team, just as long as you can sell to fans that you actually care. This has led to some interesting situations in the past, when the trash talk has backfired. The Governor of Connecticut had to apologize to the Mayor of Houston after the former made comments about Houston during the Men's Final Four.
The NBA Finals kick off on June 1, with the Western one-seed Denver Nuggets taking on the Eastern eight-seed Miami Heat. In terms of the political arena, that pits the increasingly progressive Colorado against the increasingly authoritarian Florida. One of the lynchpins of Florida's "War on Woke" has been Governor Ron DeSantis' ever-embarrassing war with Disney. Furthermore, it was the billion-dollar corporation that was central to the Governor of Colorado's proposed Finals wager.
Polis Wants Disney
In a tweet on May 30, Jared Polis, the Democrat Governor of Colorado, laid out his side of a wager with his Florida counterpart. "Calling @GovRonDeSantis and @Disney on a friendly wager. If the @nuggets win the finals against the @MiamiHEAT, Disney World will move to Colorado, the ACTUAL happiest place on earth to do business, have fun, and be free! #ColoradoForAll." Governor DeSantis has not publicly responded to the tweet. In lieu of an official response, a lot of people on Twitter appear to think that this is a genuine and somehow legally binding offer, as opposed to a slightly cringy joke.
The Nuggets are currently the heavy favorites to win the NBA Finals. FanDuel reports odds of -460 (win $1 for every $4.60 bet) for the Nuggets and +350 (win $3.50 for every $1 bet) for the Heat. Typically, state-level politicians force their opposite number to send a state dish and a picture of them in the other team's jersey. However, DeSantis' hatred for Disney is almost unprecedented so maybe this silly wager isn't so jokey after all. Despite this, as mentioned, DeSantis has not publicly responded to Polis' tweet. The NBA Finals start June 1 in Denver. Furthermore, follow all the latest sports news here at HotNewHipHop.
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