Gambling has changed everything about sports. It will lead to scandals and controversies. It has resulted in prosecutions, and it will result in more of them.
For instance, Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Wednesday that he has been threatened by gamblers.
“They got my telephone number and were sending me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that stuff,” Bickerstaff said, via the Associated Press. “So it is a dangerous game and a fine line that we’re walking for sure.”
He’s right. And the situation makes it harder for players and coaches to do their jobs.
“It brings added pressure,” Bickerstaff said. “It brings a distraction to the game that can be difficult for players, coaches, referees, everybody that’s involved in it. And I think that we really have to be careful with how close we let it get to the game and the security of the people who are involved in it.
“Because again, it does carry a weight. A lot of times the people who are gambling like this, money pays their light bill or pay their rent, and then the emotions that come from that. So I do think we’re walking a very fine line and we have to be extremely careful in protecting everybody who’s involved.”
In a sport like basketball, where scoring is plentiful and the fans are in close proximity to coaches and players, folks who have legal action on the game will make their specific rooting interests known.
“The amount of times where I’m standing up there and we may have a 10-point lead and the spread is 11 and people are yelling at me to leave the guys in so that we can cover the spread, it’s ridiculous,” Bickerstaff said. “But again, I understand the business side of it and the nature of the business of it. But I mean, it is something that I believe has gone too far.”
It will keep going farther. Bickerstaff’s comments were prompted by Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers saying that gambling has made him feel at times like a “prop.”
He’s right. Between fantasy sports and gambling, players are more dehumanized than ever before. They’re the dice, the cards, the steel ball bouncing on the roulette wheel that fuels the outcome of what ultimately is a guessing game by bettors who have convinced themselves that they have a “system.”
For the new system of legalized betting, the horse is too far out of the barn. The only question is when (not if) something happens to spark widespread litigation, legislation, and/or litigation.