Surprise! Gambling is a problem! Who could've guessed?

I never know if the heavy-handed gambling injection into sports is as obvious a problem to everyone else as it is to me, but the last week has answered that question for me.

Defector’s Ray Ratto said it best: “Baseball has a gambling problem, even if Shohei Ohtani doesn’t.”

Major League Baseball isn’t alone, though, and the NBA may have it worse: ESPN reported Monday that Toronto Raptors backup center Jontay Porter is being investigated for “betting irregularities over the past several months.”

The point is going to get beaten to death, and to speculate on Porter’s behavior is beyond me. The rumor being passed around r/nba is he had a paid Discord with guys betting the under on his in-game totals, but nobody’s proving anything and even mentioning that feels slightly irresponsible. 

Here’s what is known: DraftKings Sportsbook said in a daily report that the under on Porter’s attempted 3-pointers made the most money for bettors of any player props, according to the ESPN article. I lift their language partially because non-bettors might need an explanation. 

The “under” means the bettor is making the bet that Porter will not attempt a certain number of 3-point shots during the game. The line for Porter that day was set at three 3-point attempts. He didn’t take three 3-point attempts, so the people who bet he wouldn’t made money.

Porter did this again March 20 against my beloved Sacremento Kings, where he played three minutes on a night where it seems he needed to score less than 7.5 points and have less then 5.5 rebounds to make the bettors happy. 

This all seems very simple, and that’s because it is. Porter doesn’t have the shield of a fall guy. He can’t blame Ippei, though it would be pretty funny if he tried. Porter’s plan was so simple that he got caught, and this isn’t new to the NBA. 

The much maligned referee Tim Donaghy has said for years referees are betting on games, though some of his claims get set aside because he’s the one referee that did get caught betting on games. 

It’s been following the league for years. Recently, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and Warriors guard Chris Paul went after officials with claims they’re better. Then there’s the infamous tweet from Stephen Curry’s wife, Ayesha, that reads “I’ve lost all respect sorry this is absolutely rigged for money… Or ratings in not sure which. I won’t be silent . Just saw it live sry.”

Maybe that last one shouldn’t be taken seriously, though I do quote it whenever I die too quickly during a game of Fortnite. 

I’m sure this won’t be the last gambling scandal the NBA has to deal with. The more the leagues cozy up to the sportsbooks, the more questions they’ll have to answer. What happen when the league’s integrity takes too many big hits? Has it already? 

Every year, at least one losing team in the playoffs feels they got shafted. As a Sacramento Kings fan, I’m just glad it wasn’t them last year. 

Here’s how I look at this: If the leagues want to have this relationship with the sportsbooks, they’re asking for something to go wrong. Then it goes one of two directions. The fans either get so pissed on their teams behalf that it lands in Vancouver territory, with rabid fans destroying city blocks out of fury. If I’m a league, I take that. I guess. It means fans are engaged and watching the project, and thus watching ads.

What if fans grow apathetic? They’ve now left the door open and people are getting a peek. Players are gambling on the games like they aren’t already making enough money. What happens when a vocal enough contingent of fans start accusing players of point shaving? 

Then there’s the player side of things: How long until a fan commits an act of violence because their parlay didn’t hit?

I’m just glad I’m not in charge of coming up with answers.