The NBA asked for this embarrassment.
It was only too happy to jump in bed with legalized gambling, thinking it could take the gaming industry’s money but inoculate itself from its seedy underbelly with a few terse warnings to its players and somber PSAs for fans.
It doesn’t work that way, though. There is always a price to pay for greed and associating with unsavory people, and the NBA’s bill just came due.
Rather than praise for Victor Wembanyama or debates about whether the New York Knicks are the real deal, the NBA woke up Thursday to find itself at the center of a massive betting scandal. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones all were arrested as part of a yearslong investigation into illegal gambling rings. With ties to the mafia, no less!
Billups was charged in connection with an illegal poker operation while Rozier was accused of manipulating his play during a game to benefit bettors. Jones was charged in both cases.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness,” the NBA said in a statement, “and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
Too bad the NBA ceded their right to that high ground long ago.
NBA embraced legalized sports betting
It is true that the NBA does not have a direct role in this scandal. But the enthusiastic embrace of legalized gambling by the league, as well as the NFL, Major League Baseball and just about every other sports organization, has fostered an environment where there are no guardrails.
When the NBA’s own website has a Fantasy page listing “authorized gaming partners and operators,” why should Rozier think it’s a big deal to take a play or two off to help out some bettors? When the NBA allows DraftKings to offer a “promotion” that includes three free months of NBA League Pass, why should Billups question whether it’s a good idea to partake in a shady poker ring?
When the NBA has no problem with its teams having sports books at their arenas, how can it demand that players and coaches keep the gaming industry at arm’s length? When the NBA is sending such mixed messages — problems from gambling are bad! but profits from gambling are good! — why should anyone respect the league’s moral authority?
The league opened the door to this, all of it, and it cannot be surprised or indignant now that it’s gone sideways.
Dangers of sports betting came hand-in-hand with profits
There was a reason every sports entity in the United States resisted any association with legalized gambling for as long as they did. They knew the troubles it would bring because they saw it playing out in real-time overseas. Corrupt people trying to influence games. Gambling addictions. Players being threatened or harassed by bettors and, worse, organized crime.
Ultimately, though, the money was just too good to pass up. NBA commissioner Adam Silver even wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in 2014 encouraging widespread legalization of sports betting. For the good of humanity, of course. People were already gambling, Silver said, so why not bless it?
“I believe that sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated,” Silver wrote then.
What’s a little integrity when there are billions in potential profits to be had, right?
By giving their approval to legalized gambling, the NBA and other leagues might as well have handed an arsonist a match.
There is no daylight between gaming and its toxic byproducts, especially when smartphones make irresponsible gambling and abuse of players so easy. Warnings posted in small print, be they in locker rooms or online, are no match for human frailties, temptations and fears, and the NBA owns today’s shame as much as Billups, Rozier, Jones and everyone else who was arrested.
The NBA was well aware of the dangers that come with sports betting and it didn’t care because it wanted the gaming industry’s money more. There’s no more damning indictment than that.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.