NBA players have always received criticism from fans, whether at home or away. It comes with the job.
But this season it’s getting darker.
The recent rise of legalized gambling across professional leagues and across college athletics has impacted American sports in ways thought unimaginable just a few years ago. But along with the potential benefit that hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue bring to the NBA and other leagues has come something new and sinister: verbal abuse directed at players and coaches based solely on fan betting.
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Fans can now bet in real time on their smartphones, on all aspects of the game, including details such as how many rebounds a player could get in the first half and how many points a team will score in the fourth quarter. And if their bets don’t pay off, they will take it out on the players.
“It’s getting outrageous,” LA Clippers forward PJ Tucker said recently. “It’s getting a little crazy. Even in the arenas, hearing fans yell at guys about their bets. It’s unreal. It’s a problem. “I think it’s something that needs to be addressed.”
Teams have yet to make drastic 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 increased belligerence infused by the game. Another team has beefed up its cybersecurity staff to detect especially hateful vitriol sent by fans to its players online.
“It’s everywhere,” said Toronto Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji. “He’s the wild, wild west right now.”
For decades, aside from one-off events like the Super Bowl and March Madness, gambling was the third rail of sports. College basketball was rocked by numerous point-docking scandals. Professional leagues forcefully distanced themselves from gambling, refusing even to play in Las Vegas, where it was legal and popular. The Supreme Court then opened the door to legalized sports betting in 2018.and a radical change occurred.
Fans rushed into the nascent market and professional leagues quickly pivoted. If fans opened their now-virtual wallets to spend money on games, leagues wanted a piece of the action.
Teams now partner with casinos and build their arenas next to them. Broadcasters, long allergic to any reference to gambling, now commonly cite information about gambling during broadcasts. The NBA recently announced it would allow fans watching games on its streaming app to track betting odds and click to place bets with the league’s betting partners, FanDuel and DraftKings.
(The Athleticc has a partnership with BetMGM.)
But an unintended consequence of this new relationship is coming out of the mouths of increasingly angry fans.
“You see people on Twitter, you know, fans going back and forth with players on Twitter about how they lost their money,” Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “I guess it’s kind of fun. I don’t know. I guess I feel bad when I don’t get people’s parlays right. I don’t want to lose them money. But, you know, I just go out there and try to play the game.”
Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff said last month that a player somehow accessed Bickerstaff’s cell phone number and left him threatening text and voice messages, suggesting he knew where Bickerstaff and his family lived.
“It’s a dangerous game and a fine line to walk,” Bickerstaff said.
Toronto Raptors forward Jordan Nwora said the betting comments from fans are “all the time, non-stop.”
“You get messages,” Nwora said. “You hear it on the sidelines. You see guys talking about it all the time.
“It’s about being in the NBA. People bet on nonsense every day. I mean, it’s part of being in the NBA, it’s what it entails. I understand. People don’t complain when you make a good game. I don’t get messages from people saying, “Thank you for helping me.” “
A league spokesperson said incidents of fan comments toward players and team staff about the game were not more frequent than other fan misconduct at this time, but it is something the league continues to monitor.
The root of much of the fury is what is known as the prop bet, previously a quirky corner of the underground betting universe that has quickly caught on among fans. Prop bets are bets on parts of a game that might have nothing to do with the outcome. How long will it take to sing the national anthem? How many turnovers will a certain player have in the first half? How many total bounces will there be?
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Prop betting has been the subject of two recent incidents that raised questions about whether basketball players were under the domain of the players. A watchdog found irregular betting patterns in some Temple University men’s basketball bets this season. The NBA told ESPN last week that it was investigating Raptors forward Jontay Porter after irregularities were reported in prop bets involving his performances in two games.
NBA players have noticed the change in fan interests.
“For half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever,” Tyrese Haliburton, an All-Star guard for the Indiana Pacers, said last month.
“I’m supportive,” he added. “You know what I mean? That’s what my social media is mostly about.”
Haliburton elaborated on his comments in a recent interview with The Athletic. He said the verbal abuse at games was much worse than when he came into the league four years ago.
“Bettors have this thing called a ‘no-go’ list, and that’s when you miss their bet,” Haliburton said. “Then they tell me, ‘You’re on my banned list.’ I’m not going to continue betting on you. And I think that’s literally all my mentions for the last six weeks,” he said, referring to social media.
I also asked #Pacers Star Tyrese Haliburton specifically spoke about speaking to a sports psychologist, noting in his response how sports betting has consumed much of his social media.
“For half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever. I’m a prop.” pic.twitter.com/6f2a0vEuiK
-James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) March 20, 2024
Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony also mentioned the banned list, noting the increased attention and pressure created by parlay bets, when multiple bets are combined into one.
“There were some where I thought, ‘This is disgusting,’” Anthony said. “It’s not disgusting, but it’s fun, in a way, to see these things and see how seriously a lot of people take it.”
The NBA is especially vulnerable to this new fan dynamic. Their players are not hidden behind pads and helmets, and they perform close to fans, some of whom chat with coaches and players during games.
Team security does not confront abusive fans; That falls on the safety of the arena. Behavior considered “verbal or disruptive abuse,” including talking about gambling if it is particularly unpleasant, may result in expulsions. Typically, fans receive a verbal warning from stadium security that they are violating the rules. NBA Fan Code of Conduct, which is promoted in the games. A fan who does not stop the disruptive behavior may be fined. warning card — a written warning that further inappropriate behavior will result in expulsion. A third incident will result in the fan being removed, although fans can be ejected if they are particularly unpleasant to players or staff only once.
The league monitors social media activity through its Global Security Operations Center, staffed by eight to 10 people. The NBA also shares information with other sports leagues. Certain players, coaches and referees tend to attract more attention on social platforms than others. League security meets with teams twice a season to remind them of game protocols.
Bickerstaff, the Cavaliers coach, said he informed team security about the fan who was threatening him. Security located the person who left the messages and text messages, but Bickerstaff and the team declined to pursue a legal case.
Tatum says the narrative has “definitely changed” since his first few seasons in the league.
“I guess when you hit people’s parlay bets and do something good for them, they tell me,” he said. “But they also talk shit. Like I was on the court and I didn’t get 29.5 or what I was 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)
