In life, there is one constant – change. For professional sports, the biggest change lately has to do with gambling. Most US states now offer fans the opportunity to legally bet on player games and accessories. And major professional sports leagues like the NBA have also adopted this recent change in legislation. What was once a third rail topic is now a major source of income, with ESPN’s financial guru Bobby Marks saying this year, the NBA “is projected to receive $167 million in casino and betting revenue, an 11% increase from last season.”
Just look beyond ESPN to see how sports betting is integrated with the major leagues and the media outlets that cover them. At the very top of the company’s website is a new tab, ESPNBET, the broadcaster’s sportsbook, launching in November 2023. Is this a conflict of interest? Maybe maybe not. But the game seems to generate a lot of new business in the sport. For NBA fans frustrated with game analytics, challenges and long replays, it’s the game’s fault, especially in the wake of the league’s refereeing scandal. at the beginning of this century. For a company that lost a lot of money during the pandemic and one that is trying to grow globallythe game promises an influx of money, and the N.B.A. two official betting partners. The league says this promotes responsible gamingbut it is believed that there is around three million problem gamblers in the US, and the National Council on Problem Gaming states that the risk of gambling addiction in the general population increased by 30% between 2018 and 2021. Betting ads shown everywhere on NBA broadcasts almost certainly won’t help these numbers.
In his memoir, It’s Hard for Me to Live With Me, former NBA star turned Twitter celebrity Rex Chapman details his addiction to betting on horse races. He lost more money than he could count on from gambling after retirement, and coupled with opiate abuse, this nearly cost him his family. However, Chapman’s story is common among athletes and non-athletes alike. So why has the NBA aligned itself with gambling? Whatever the reasons, it did so to such an extent that during a recent game between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs on Easter Sunday, advertisements appeared on the field promoting the gambling company Bet365. As Steph Curry dribbled and Victor Wembanyama dunked, there was the Bet365 logo below the scorer’s table. Not to mention that just a few months ago, Mark Cuban sold a majority stake in his Dallas Mavericks for large casino owners with the goal of bringing the game to Texas.
In addition to the threat of addiction, some league members are concerned about the dangers of the close partnership between the NBA and sportsbooks. Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff said he was threatened by players. “They got my phone number and sent me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and everything,” Bickerstaff said after a recent game against the Miami Heat. “So it’s a dangerous game and a fine line we’re walking for sure.” Bickerstaff is not alone. Indiana Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton said he is seeking professional help for his mental health, adding: “For half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or something. I’m a prop.”
This is a marked difference from the early history of the NBA, before legal gambling became widespread and the league aligned itself so closely with betting. When asked if he was ever approached by a disgruntled bettor, All-Star guard Kenny Anderson, who retired in 2005, told the Guardian: “No, sports betting wasn’t as big back then as it is now. They got angry [if they lost] but they didn’t really point it out to me. And All-Star Michael Ray Richardson, who played in the 1980s, added: “Never. Back then there weren’t as many bets as there are now.”
But perhaps the biggest problem lately is with the league investigating bench player Jontay Porter, brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr, for “Irregularities in betting”. (Why did sports props exist? In the bank players on losing teams is another matter.) Since then, Porter’s older brother come to your defensesaying, “I highly doubt he would do anything to put [his NBA career] in danger,” while NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told Jontay Porter could be banned from the league forever if found guilty.
Whether or not the league finds any wrongdoing with Porter and the Raptors, the question remains: Why does the league create risks by getting in bed with gambling companies? This is something that has occurred to many veterans around the league.
“Why allow this,” asks Lionel Hollins, a former All-Star point guard and NBA champion who later coached for years in the league. Speaking to the Guardian, Hollins says: “[It’s just] another issue that must be monitored and that players and coaches will have to deal with.”
After all, the NBA and its players already have a lot on their plate. Sure, they get paid a lot, but they already have to deal with angry fans complaining about wins, losses and fantasy leagues, not to mention media responsibilities. Why add another variable and one of these financial consequences to the equation? “[Some have] we project that by 2030, sports in general will generate more than $800 billion,” former Los Angeles Laker and NBA champion Jim Chones told the Guardian. “That was before betting and gambling. So we might already be there. This is why coaches don’t last. [Owners] get rid of them during the season because the money is too big. The money is so big that coaches become expendable, cheap players become expendable.”
Far from being a cheap player, there was a time when some speculated whether NBA legend Michael Jordan’s 18-month hiatus from the NBA in the mid-1990s was not just a desire to play minor league baseball, but rather a suspension secreted by then-commissioner David Stern due to Jordan’s high gambling impulses. But in the meantime The theory has already been debunked, the fact that it was even considered shows how far apart the league and casinos were from each other at that time. Now, they are close friends. 11-year veteran Terry Tyler calls it “hypocritical.” He says: “Remember when everyone thought Michael Jordan was gambling and people lost their minds, and he wasn’t betting on anything [NBA-related] …Now, suddenly, it seems like everything is fine. I think it’s very hypocritical… It’s sending a bad message.”
For Tyler, as well as many others, this closeness is especially startling, especially considering the possible consequences and addictive qualities of the game. “Personally, I don’t play,” former Boston Celtic and four-time NBA champion Robert Parish told the Guardian. “Gambling is a problem when you are not in control, it is an addiction.”
It is clear that the NBA, even though it is close to the game, does not allow its players to bet on NBA games (hence the Porter investigation), although they can bet on other sports. But one might ask: Isn’t the league courting these kinds of indiscretions by getting so close to the game? “As for gambling in a sport you participate in,” Parish says, “that’s a no-fly zone. Because you may have information that could influence the outcome of games. I was approached by people asking my opinion on whether we would cover the point spread [on a given night]. I don’t know if they were fans or bookies. My answer was: We, the players, play to find winners and losers.”
Parish played in the NBA for 20 years, from 1976-77 to 1996-97, long before sports betting became popular in the NBA and other leagues. Now, though, one can imagine the types of people who might approach the league’s stars today, adding pressure and perhaps even illegal incentives at the drop of a dime. However, it doesn’t look like gambling and sports betting are going anywhere anytime soon. Turn on any popular NBA podcast, for example, and you’ll likely hear ads for DraftKings or FanDuel. Turn on an NBA game and you’ll see Bet365. It’s a matter of luck for the NBA and other leagues to get so close to casinos and their customers. It could end up being a risk that the NBA and other US leagues will try to back away from. The English Premier League, which established ties to the game long before the NBA, last year decided to ban sponsors from betting on shirts starting in 2026. If addiction and scandals increase around the NBA, the league could be forced to make similar decisions.
