ESPN reported that a spokesperson for Ohtani initially said the player intentionally transferred the funds to cover gambling debts of Mizuhara, a longtime friend and associate of Ohtani.
The same publicist organized a 90-minute interview between Mizuhara and ESPN on Tuesday night, during which Mizuhara explained his position.
He told ESPN that he has incurred debt betting on the NBA, NFL, college football and international soccer, but never on baseball, which is prohibited by MLB rules.
“Obviously he [Ohtani] He wasn't happy about it and said he would help me not to do it again,” Mizuhara said. “He decided to pay it back for me.”
“I want everyone to know that Shohei was never involved in gambling. I want people to know that I had no idea this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. “I'll never do sports betting again,” he told ESPN.
However, as ESPN prepared to publish the story Wednesday, it announced that Ohtani's spokesperson denied Mizuhara's statement and said the player's attorney would issue a statement.
ESPN reported that Mizuhara changed his story on Wednesday and said he actually knew nothing about Ohtani's gambling debts and that Ohtani did not send money to bookmaker associates. According to an ESPN report, Mizuhara said Ohtani told him not to comment on whether he had been accused of theft, but he declined to say who had accused him.
NBC News reached out to the Dodgers' representatives for Ohtani and Mizuhara overnight for further comment.
Mizuhara has worked with Ohtani since his major debut in 2018.
After working as an interpreter for the Boston Red Sox, he returned to Japan in 2013 and met Otani. When Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017, the team hired Mizuhara as a personal interpreter. ESPN reported that Mizuhara told the program that he was paid between $300,000 and $500,000 a year.
It's already been an eventful week for the 29-year-old Ohtani, who has become the face of MLB's efforts to build its brand in Asia and one of the sport's biggest stars.
Despite South Korea's long-standing rivalry with Ohtani's home country of Japan, he was welcomed by a crowd of enthusiastic fans at the Dodgers' season-opening series in Seoul.
