NBA Commissioner Adam Silver chose to align his league with sports betting, and is now going to have to pay a big price after the FBI announced its arrests on Thursday.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver chose to align his league with sports betting, and is now going to have to pay a big price after the FBI announced its arrests on Thursday.Chase Stevens/Associated Press
In his angst to reward his employers — the NBA governors — with more money, to take his league to the next financial level, and to appease the appetite of players who realize their worth and value to the league, Adam Silver decided to make a decision that may taint his pristine legacy.
Silver decided to align with sports betting, embracing the legalization of betting not only on games but on the statistical performance of individual players, which has become dangerous and costly.
Instead of the lead discussion Thursday morning being about the brilliant performance of Victor Wembanyama or even the record 34-point outing of Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe in his NBA debut, news broke just after daylight that former Celtics Terry Rozier, now with the Miami Heat, and Chauncey Billups, now head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, were arrested for their participation in different cases that involved gambling.
Rozier has been investigated for two years, and cleared by the NBA, for his part in fixing a prop bet on a game he played in March 2023 while with the Charlotte Hornets, when he left a game against the New Orleans Pelicans with a foot injury — thus all of his statistics were lower than expected, allowing those bettors who bet that he wouldn’t meet predicted levels to cash in.
For Billups, the accusations are shocking, as five years ago the then-assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers participated in a potentially fixed poker game scheme that swindled players out of potentially millions. He has been placed on leave.
It’s the league’s worst nightmare, and what many observers expected when Silver decided to form a relationship with legal sports betting. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is one of many coaches who have freely admitted fans screaming at them during games to play particular players more minutes to meet their expected betting statistics.
If the Celtics are leading by 20 with three minutes left and the line on Jaylen Brown was 26½ points, fans betting on Brown to cover want him to score 27 points and are angry that Mazzulla pulled his star player for rest because the game is decided. This is NBA reality. While betting does allow fans to be intrigued by games until the final buzzer, the lure of money brings out the worst — but this is what Silver risked when he decided he wanted his league to enjoy a bigger share of the gambling pot.
The troubles began when fringe NBA player Jontay Porter began associating with known gambling operations to earn money to pay debts and, like Rozier is accused, he targeted a particular game in which to inform gambling associates that he would leave with a fraudulent injury (flu-like symptoms, back spasms) so that his prop bet numbers would fall below expectations.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver felt the actions of former Toronto forward Jontay Porter were an exception, but Thursday's federal arrests have proven otherwise.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver felt the actions of former Toronto forward Jontay Porter were an exception, but Thursday's federal arrests have proven otherwise.Christopher Katsarov/Associated Press
Not every NBA player makes enough money to ignore the lure of making potentially millions to impact their prop bets. And in their rationalization, it’s illegal but not as egregious as actually throwing a game. If they leave a game with injury, they are replaced by a player who may perform better and help earn a victory.
The league banned Porter for life and Silver wanted us to believe he was a martyr, a rogue individual who was desperate for money and made a horrific decision. But what has to be realized is that every participant in sports betting or the gambling world isn’t necessarily legitimate.
Did Silver and the governors think those bookies who flourished in the 1980s from getting phone calls from our uncles or grandfathers to illegally bet on games just disappeared? Did the league realize there’s a dark side of gambling that makes cheating and deceit easier because of technology?
While we used to giggle at the infamous bookie nicknames — “Willie the Worm” or “Tony Clams”, for example — these shady figures still exist. But they are more discreet, more intelligent, and have capitalized on a society where everything has a price, everything is worthy of a bet. And there are players in professional sports who are open to sacrificing their careers for the sake of more money, especially those who have not handled their money well.
But it’s too late for the NBA to withdraw. During NBA games, announcers are updating viewers on the live betting lines. Analysts are giving viewers their favorite to exceed prop bet numbers. ESPN has multiple shows dedicated to sports betting, while betting centers are going to begin sprouting in NBA areas where fans can place live bets during games.
ESPN, one of the NBA's biggest national networks, always plugs its own betting platform, ESPN BET, any chance it can get.
ESPN, one of the NBA's biggest national networks, always plugs its own betting platform, ESPN BET, any chance it can get.
Sounds convenient but also very dangerous. But there was a reason why Silver’s predecessor, David Stern, resisted affiliation with sports betting and shunned Las Vegas as a potential NBA expansion city. While sports gambling over the years has become more legitimate and has shaken the unsavory tag of the past generations, there remains unsavory parts of gambling. And we’re learning that NBA players and coaches are vulnerable to the lure of a quick buck for just making a phone call or hosting a poker game.
The NBA has to reassess its gambling policies because obviously banning Porter for life wasn’t enough of a precautionary tale. There’s too much money involved for Silver to go back on his betting partnerships, so that’s not happening.
But the league also can’t just categorize Rozier and Billups as outcasts and keep it moving. Silver has to address this issue with education, and perhaps consider removing prop bets from NBA gambling possibilities, and ban gambling on team planes and facilities.
Hopefully this serves as a sobering lesson to a league that wanted us to believe that gambling and crime aren’t linked. That’s nonsensical.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.