The Los Angeles Dodgers know that immense pressure and media attention is unavoidable this year following their historic offseason, but they were obviously not anticipating the 2024 campaign to start like this. All eyes continue to be on the Shohei Ohtani/Ippei Mizuhara gambling scandal, as social media devours this bizarre and distressing story.
Former star NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown is chiming in on the matter, using an NSFW reference to feed into a social media narrative that many fans have subscribed to over the past few days.
“First there was Bruce Brown and Gradey Dick and now…” the two-time leader in both receiving yards and catches posted on X, along with a photo of Ohtani and Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts. He is calling back to an image that showed the two aforementioned Toronto Raptors players standing next to each other on the sidelines during a game, with the names on the back of their jerseys coincidentally forming an eye-opening phrase.
Antonio Brown is having his own fun with wordplay. By using the same methods applied to Bruce Brown and Gradey Dick, his image implicitly reads, “Ohtani Bets.”
First there was bruce Brown and gradey Dick and now…. #CTESPN pic.twitter.com/6k07EsMgAl
— AB (@AB84) March 25, 2024
The sports world is still processing this bombshell
Ohtani's interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, is being accused by the Japanese baseball superstar's legal team of “massive theft” in the form of approximately $4.5 million. The money is said to have been used to pay off gambling debts to an Orange County bookmaker named Matthew Boyer, whose operation has already been under federal investigation.
The funds were wired from Ohtani's bank account. Initially, Mizuhara reportedly claimed that the two-time MVP begrudgingly agreed to settle the substantial debts, but he then denied Ohtani knowing anything about the situation. The Dodgers dismissed the longtime interpreter immediately after the “theft” allegations emerged last week, following their 15-11 loss to the San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea.
The spotlight, however, remains firmly on Shotime.
The Shohei Ohtani speculation, jokes aren't going to stop anytime soon
Antonio Brown is quickly becoming one of the more prominent figures on social media, due to his bold commentary. While many have floated unfounded theories that Shohei Ohtani himself is the one who is illegally gambling, Brown is adding his own dose of humor to make light of the scandal.
But neither the Dodgers nor the MLB is laughing. They want to move past this investigation as quickly as possible. Even the mere suggestion of impropriety being committed by the face of the sport is negative attention the league desperately wants to shun. It must be noted that Ohtani is not currently linked to any gambling activity. Furthermore, Mizuhara's alleged bets were not made on baseball.
The 29-year-old hitting/pitching hybrid is going to address the allegations facing his now-former interpreter in a statement on Monday. The chatter will persist, but perhaps this action allows Ohtani to divert his focus back to helping the Dodgers win games. Their regular season resumes on Thursday when they begin a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Still, the entire ballclub is going to be inserted into the story. Mookie Betts is bound to be exasperated by the additional puns that will likely come. A high-profile MLB campaign has somehow gotten bigger, and for all the wrong reasons.
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