勒布朗向Bron AI发律师函：博彩应用广告盗用其肖像与声音，24小时播放超90万次
费城76人队球星勒布朗·詹姆斯（LeBron James）已向体育博彩应用Bron AI的运营方PlayVision公司发出律师函，要求其永久停止使用他的肖像。这款应用11月4日在X平台发布的一条推广视频，用超级智能（SI）生成了一个酷似詹姆斯的人物形象，在社交平台疯传，不到24小时播放量就超过90万次。
据Front Office Sports报道，视频中这个人物穿着印有詹姆斯昵称「Bron」和23号的球衣，声音也酷似詹姆斯本人；人物滑动浏览这款应用，停在菲尼克斯太阳队前锋狄龙·布鲁克斯（Dillon Brooks）的照片上，还说了一句：「狄龙·布鲁克斯？在Kalshi上下注？才不。」视频由该公司首席执行官发到X平台。詹姆斯的发言人对Front Office Sports表示：「勒布朗与这种未经授权使用其肖像的行为没有任何关联。」
发函的律师事务所是Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks。律师函称，该公司是在「未经授权使用并非法利用」詹姆斯的姓名、昵称、肖像、形象、人格及其他识别特征，制造出双方有关联的假象；函件要求Bron AI在任何方式和媒介上永久停用其肖像、撤下这条广告，并书面通知每一名应用用户詹姆斯与该公司毫无关系。据ESPN报道，函件给出的停用期限是周四下午5点30分。Front Office Sports刊发报道后约三小时，这条广告已从X平台删除。
律师函特别指出，此事「尤其严重和恶劣」有两重原因：一是詹姆斯与预测市场平台Polymarket签有独家代言协议，据Inc报道，这份协议价值1,500万美元；二是广告会让人以为詹姆斯本人参与篮球博彩，而这「严重违反NBA的规则和规定」。Bron AI自称是一款汇总传统博彩公司与预测市场数据和赔率的工具，能帮用户找出可能盈利的投注，并可在其他应用上自动下注；应用免费下载，专业版每月29.99美元或每年249.99美元。其运营方PlayVision公司成立于2025年，得到创业孵化机构Y Combinator支持。
这条广告里不只有詹姆斯。据Front Office Sports报道，广告中还出现多诺万·米切尔、扬尼斯·阿德托昆博等NBA球员和克里斯蒂安·麦卡弗里、杰登·丹尼尔斯等NFL球员的形象，以及洛杉矶湖人队球星卢卡·东契奇（Luka Dončić）的照片；东契奇的代表也已向Bron AI发出同类律师函。詹姆斯的长期媒体顾问亚当·门德尔松（Adam Mendelsohn）对Front Office Sports说，这条广告是「体育营销衰落、缺乏原创的又一个例子」，并表示：「我敢肯定，对方的意图就是让我们发律师函，好把这件事炒成新闻。」他还说，这类噱头从来不会奏效，因为人们看得穿。
多名法律界人士认为这条广告踩了肖像权红线。哈佛法学院教授丽贝卡·图什内特（Rebecca Tushnet）对Front Office Sports说，即使没有直呼「勒布朗·詹姆斯」，用一个酷似他的虚拟形象唤起其身份，在多州法律下同样侵犯肖像权，并可能构成虚假代言；体育律师达伦·海特纳（Darren Heitner）也称，昵称「Bron」、23号、体貌呈现与相似声音的组合，明显是在借詹姆斯的身份为一款无关的体育博彩产品牟利。PlayVision与Bron AI未回应Front Office Sports的置评请求，Y Combinator亦未回应。
这不是詹姆斯第一次就肖像被盗用发函。2025年7月，他曾要求一款名为Interlink AI的工具停止允许用户制作使用其肖像的视频，此前有人用该工具生成了詹姆斯怀孕形象的视频。
LeBron James Sends Cease-and-Desist to Bron AI: Betting-App Ad Used His Likeness and Voice and Passed 900,000 Views in Under 24 Hours
Philadelphia 76ers star LeBron James has sent a cease-and-desist letter to PlayVision Inc., the company behind the sports-betting app Bron AI, demanding that it permanently stop using his likeness. A promotional video the app posted on X on November 4 used a synthetically generated character resembling James, and it spread rapidly on social media, passing 900,000 views in less than 24 hours.
According to Front Office Sports, the character in the video wears a jersey bearing James's nickname, "Bron," and his number, 23, and speaks in a voice resembling James's while scrolling through the app. The character stops on a photo of Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks and says, "Dillon Brooks? On Kalshi? Hell nah." The video was posted on X by the company's CEO. "LeBron is in no way affiliated with this unauthorized use of his likeness," a spokesperson for James told Front Office Sports.
The letter, from the law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks PC, says the company has engaged in the "unauthorized use and illicit exploitation of" James's name, nickname, likeness, image, persona and other identifying attributes to create the appearance of an association between the two sides. It demands that Bron AI permanently stop using his likeness in any manner and media, remove the advertisement, and notify every person who has used the app, in writing, that James has no involvement with the company. According to ESPN, the letter set a deadline of 5:30 p.m. Thursday. About three hours after Front Office Sports published its story, the ad was removed from X.
The letter calls the use "especially serious and egregious" for two reasons. James has an exclusive endorsement deal with the prediction-market platform Polymarket — a deal Inc reported is worth $15 million — and the ad implies that he is "involved with betting on basketball, which is a very serious violation of NBA rules and regulations." Bron AI bills itself as a tool that aggregates data and odds from traditional sportsbooks and prediction markets, allowing users to identify potentially profitable wagers and automatically place bets on other apps; it is free to download, with a pro version costing $29.99 a month or $249.99 a year. Its owner, PlayVision Inc., was founded in 2025 and is backed by the startup accelerator Y Combinator.
James is not the only athlete shown. According to Front Office Sports, the ad also includes images of NBA players Donovan Mitchell and Giannis Antetokounmpo, NFL players Christian McCaffrey and Jayden Daniels, and a photo of Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić, whose representative has also sent Bron AI a cease-and-desist letter. Adam Mendelsohn, James's longtime media adviser, told Front Office Sports the ad is "another example of the decline and lack of originality in sports marketing," adding, "I'm sure the intent here was for us to send a cease and desist in order to make it a story." He said such gimmicks never work because people see through them.
Legal experts told Front Office Sports the ad crosses right-of-publicity lines. Harvard Law School professor Rebecca Tushnet said that even without saying "LeBron James," evoking a celebrity's identity through a resembling avatar is a violation of many states' right-of-publicity laws and could also amount to false endorsement. Sports attorney Darren Heitner said the combination of the nickname "Bron," the number 23, the physical presentation and the similar voice seemed designed to trade on James's identity in connection with an unrelated sports-betting product. PlayVision and Bron AI did not respond to requests for comment from Front Office Sports, and neither did Y Combinator.
It is not the first time James has acted over misuse of his likeness. In July 2025, he demanded that the creators of a tool called Interlink AI stop allowing videos using his likeness, after users created videos showing a pregnant version of James.
来源：Front Office Sports
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：勒布朗·詹姆斯本人资料图（2026年1月28日效力洛杉矶湖人队时期，Erik Drost摄，CC BY 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons），非本次事件现场图
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
