NBA players have always received feedback from fans, both at home and on the road. It comes with the job.
However, this season has become dark.
Legalized gambling has recently exploded across all professional leagues and college athletics, impacting American sports in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. But with the potential benefits of hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue for the NBA and other leagues, something new and creepy has arrived: abuse directed at players and coaches based solely on fan bets.
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Fans can bet in real time on their smartphones on every aspect of the game, including details like how many rebounds a player will get in the first half or how many points a team will score in the fourth quarter. And if the bet doesn't pay off, they will hold the player responsible for it.
“It's getting crazy,” Clippers forward P.J. Tucker said recently. “It's kind of weird. Even in the arena, I could hear the fans yelling at the guys about the bets. It's unreal. It's a problem. I think it's a problem that has to be addressed.”
Teams have not yet made any sweeping changes to their security details, and the NBA has not recommended increased security near the court. But at least one team has added an extra security guard to its bench this season in response to the increased belligerence associated with gambling. Another team beefed up its cybersecurity staff to detect particularly offensive abuse sent online by fans to players.
“It's everywhere,” Toronto Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji said. “It's the Wild West now.”
For decades, gambling has been the third rail of sports, aside from one-off events like the Super Bowl and March Madness office pools. The college basketball world has been rocked by numerous point scoring scandals. The professional leagues forcibly distanced themselves from gambling, even refusing to hold games in Las Vegas, where gambling was legal and popular. Then, in 2018, a major change occurred when the Supreme Court opened the door to legalizing sports betting.
Fans flooded the nascent market, and professional leagues quickly pivoted. If fans were opening up virtual wallets to spend money on games, the league wanted to get in on the action, too.
The team is currently partnering with a casino and building an arena next to the casino. Announcers have long been allergic to mentions of betting, but it is now common to quote betting information on air. The NBA recently announced that fans watching games on streaming apps will be able to track betting odds and click through to place bets with the league's betting partners FanDuel and DraftKings.
(The Athletec is affiliated with BetMGM. )
But the unintended consequences of this new relationship are coming from increasingly frustrated fans.
“You'll see fans on Twitter interacting with players about how they lost money on Twitter,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “I think it's kind of funny. I don't know. I think I feel bad when I don't hit someone's parlay. I don't want them to lose money. But, you know, I just go out and play the game. I’m just trying.”
Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff said earlier this month that a gambler somehow gained access to Bickerstaff's cell phone number, left threatening texts and voice messages, and learned where Bickerstaff and his family lived. He said he had hinted that he was.
“This is a dangerous game and there's a fine line we're definitely walking,” Bickerstaff said.
Toronto Raptors forward Jordan Nwora said comments from fans about betting are “always non-stop.”
“We get the message,” Nwora said. “You hear it on the sidelines. You see everyone talking about it all the time.
“That comes with being in the NBA. People bet on stupid things on a daily basis. I mean, it's part of being in the NBA, it comes with the NBA. Okay. Good. If we can play, people don't complain. We don't get messages saying, 'Thank you for helping us.'”
A league spokesperson said incidents of fans making gambling comments to players and team staff are not as prevalent as other types of fan misconduct at this time, but the league continues to monitor them. Stated.
The root of the anger is something known as prop betting, which was once a quirky corner of the underground betting world that quickly captured the hearts of fans. Prop bets are bets on aspects of the game that are unrelated to the outcome. How long does it take until the national anthem is played? How many turnovers will a particular player have in the first half? How many total rebounds will they have?
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Prop bets have been the subject of two recent incidents that have raised questions about whether basketball players are under the influence of gamblers. Observers discovered irregular betting patterns in prop bets for some Temple University men's basketball games this season. The NBA told ESPN last week that it was investigating Raptors forward Jontay Porter after a prop bet involving his individual performance in two games revealed fraudulent betting.
NBA players have noticed a shift in fan interest.
“For half the world, all I'm doing is helping them make money on DraftKings and stuff,” Indiana Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton said earlier this month.
“I'm a prop,” he added. “You know what I'm saying? The majority of my social media consists of this.”
Halliburton expanded on his comments in a recent interview. The Athletic. He said the verbal abuse during games was much worse than when he entered the league four years ago.
“Bettors have what's called a 'banned' list, and that's when their bets don't win,” Halliburton said. “So they said, 'You're on my banned list. I'm not going to keep betting on you anymore.' And I think that's literally the only thing I've mentioned in the last six weeks,” he said on social media. he said, referring to
I also asked #pacers Star Tyrese Halliburton specifically talked about a conversation he had with a sports psychologist, and in his response he said sports betting consumes a lot of social media.
“To half the world, I'm just helping them make money on DraftKings and stuff. I'm a prop.” pic.twitter.com/6f2a0vEuiK
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) March 20, 2024
Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony also addressed the banned list, pointing to the increased attention and pressure created by parlay gambling, where multiple bets are combined into one bet.
“There were some points where I was like, 'This is disgusting,'” Anthony said. “No offense, but it's kind of funny to see something like this and see how seriously a lot of people take this.”
The NBA is especially vulnerable to this new fan dynamic. Instead of hiding behind pads and helmets, the players perform in close proximity to the fans, some of whom even interact with coaches and players during the game.
Team security won't stand up to abusive fans. That applies to arena security. Any behavior deemed to be “verbal or disruptive” (including, in particularly egregious cases, discussion of gambling) may result in expulsion. Fans are typically given a verbal warning by arena security for violating the game's recommended fan code of conduct. Fans who do not stop their disruptive behavior may be given a warning card, a written warning that further inappropriate behavior will result in expulsion. If a third incident occurs, the fan will be ejected, but if he or she is particularly mean to a player or staff member, he or she could be ejected.
The league monitors social media activity through its Global Security Operations Center, which has a staff of eight to 10 people. The NBA also shares information with other sports leagues. Certain players, coaches, and referees tend to get more attention than others on social platforms. Twice a year, he says, league security personnel meet with teams to remind them about gambling protocols.
Cavaliers coach Bickerstaff said he alerted team security about the threatening fan. Security guards tracked down the person who left the messages and text messages, but Bickerstaff and his team declined to pursue legal action.
Tatum says the discussion has “definitely changed” from his first few years in the league.
“I think maybe when you successfully parlay people and do good things for people, they tell me that,” he said. “But they also talk about boring stuff. Like being on the court and scoring 29.5 points and not getting what you were supposed to do.”
—Sam Amick, Eric Koreen, Josh Robbins, James Boyd, Jared Weiss and Jason Lloyd contributed reporting.
(Tyrese Haliburton photo: Ron Hoskins / NBAE via Getty Images)
