by In life, there is one constant – change. When it comes to professional sports, the biggest recent change has to do with gambling. Most of the United States allow fans to legally bet on games and player equipment. And major professional sports leagues such as the NFA have also recently embraced the legislative change. What was once a third-rail topic has become a major source of revenue, with ESPN financial guru Bobby Marks saying this year that “the NBA is projected to receive $167m in casino and betting revenue, an 11% increase from last season .”
One need look no further than ESPN to see how integrated sports betting is with the major leagues and the media that cover them. At the top of the company’s website is a new tab, ESPNBET, the broadcaster’s own sportsbook, launching in November 2023. Is this a conflict of interest? Maybe, maybe not. But gambling seems to be driving a lot of new business in sports. For NBA fans frustrated by the in-game reviews, challenges and long replays, gambling is largely to blame, especially after the league’s refereeing scandal earlier this century. For a business that has lost a lot of money during the pandemic and a business that wants to grow worldwide, gambling promises an influx of money, and the NBA has two official betting partners. The league says it promotes responsible gambling, but there are an estimated three million problem gamblers in the United States, and the National Council on Problem Gambling says the risk of gambling addiction in the general population increased by 30% between 2018 and 2021. Betting Ads appearing everywhere on NBA broadcasts certainly won’t help those numbers.
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In his memoir, It’s Hard for Me Live with Me, former NBA star Rex Chapman, a Twitter celebrity, turned his addiction to betting on horse races. He lost more money than he could count on gambling after retirement and, combined with opioid abuse, cost his family little. However, Chapman’s story is common among athletes and non-athletes alike. So why is the NBA aligned 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, there were on-court advertisements promoting the betting company, Bet365. As Steph Curry got up with the ball and Victor Wembanyama got up, the Bet365 logo was below the scorer’s table. Not to mention, just months ago, Mark Cuban sold a majority stake in his Dallas Mavericks to prominent casino owners hoping to bring gambling to Texas.
Aside from the threat of addiction, some in the league worry that the close partnership between the NBA and sportsbooks is dangerous. Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff said he is threatened by gamblers. “They got my phone number and they were sending me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that stuff,” Bickerstaff said after a recent game against the Miami Heat. “So it’s a dangerous game and a fine line that we’re definitely walking.” Bickerstaff is not alone. Indiana Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton said he was seeking professional help for his mental health, adding: “For half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever. I’m a prop.”
This is a big difference from earlier in the history of the NBA, before legal gambling became widespread and the league was so closely tied to betting. When asked if he had ever been a bettor, All-Star guard Kenny Anderson, who retired in 2005, told the Guardian, “Nah, sports betting wasn’t as big back then as it is. now. They became angry [if they lost] but they didn’t really impress me.” And All-Star Michael Ray Richardson, active in the 1980s, said, “Never. Back then it wasn’t much betting like it is now.”
But perhaps the biggest issue of late is the league investigating bench player Jontay Porter, brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr, for “betting irregularities.” (Why were there sports props on a bench players on losing teams is another question entirely.) Porter’s big brother has since come to his defense, saying, “I highly doubt he would do anything to [his NBA career] in jeopardy”, and NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Jontay Porter could be banned from the league for life if found guilty.
Whether or not the league finds any wrongdoing with Porter and the Raptors, the question remains: why does the league create a risk by getting into bed with gambling companies? That’s what happened to many veterans of the league.
“Why is it allowed,” says Lionel Hollins, a former All-Star guard and NBA champion who worked in the league for years afterward. Speaking to the Guardian, Hollins says, “[It’s just] another issue that needs to be monitored and dealt with by players and coaches.”
After all, the NBA and its players already have so much on their plates. 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 such a financial consequence to the equation? “[Some have] sports in general are projected to generate over $800bn by 2030,” former Los Angeles Laker and NBA champion Jim Chones tells the Guardian. “This was it before betting and gambling. So maybe we are already there. That’s why coaches don’t last. [Owners] get rid of them during the season because the money is too much. The money is so big that coaches become expendable, players become expendable.”
Far from being a free player, there was a time when some speculated whether or not 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 a secret suspension by commissioner at the time, David Stern because of Jordan’s serious gambling concerns. But while that theory has since been debunked, the fact that it was considered shows how far apart the leagues and casinos were back then. Now, they are bosom friends. 11-year veteran Terry Tyler calls this “hypocritical.” He says, “Remember when everybody thought Michael Jordan was gambling and people were out of their minds, and he wasn’t betting on anything. [NBA-related] … Now all of a sudden it seems okay. I think it’s quite hypocritical… It’s sending out a bad message.”
For Tyler, along with many others, this proximity is especially murky, especially given the potential consequences and addictive qualities of gambling. “Personally, I can’t gamble,” Robert Parish, a former Boston Celtic and four-time NBA champion, tells the Guardian. “Gambling is a problem when you’re not in control, it’s an addiction.”
Of course, the NBA, even with its proximity to gambling, does not allow its players to bet on NBA games (hence the Porter investigation), although they can bet on other sports. But perhaps surprisingly, the league is not flirting with these types of indiscretions by being so close to gambling? “When it comes to gambling in a sport that you participate in,” Parish says, “that’s a no-fly zone. Because you may have information that could influence the outcome of the games. People have contacted me asking my opinion on whether we will cover the point spread [on a given night]. I don’t know if they were fans or punters. My answer was: we players play the games to find out winners and losers.”
Parish played in the NBA for 20 years, from 1976-77 through 1996-97, way before sports betting became mainstream in the NBA and other leagues. Now, however, one can imagine the types of people who could confront the stars of the series today, applying pressure and perhaps illegal incentives even at the drop of a dime. However, gambling is no different and sportsbooks will soon be going anywhere. Turn on any 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 roll of the dice for the NBA and other leagues to get as close to casinos and their customers. It could be a risk that eventually the NBA and other US leagues will want to withdraw from it. The English Premier League, which established links with gambling long before the NBA, decided last year to ban sponsors from betting on shirts from 2026 onwards. If addictions and scandals rise around the NBA, the league may be forced to make similar decisions.
