I think I’ve mentioned before that at this time of year, the sport news cycle in Australia is a bit odd. We’re wondering if Mitch Marsh scoring white ball runs might have him vaguely in play for the Ashes, even when he says it won’t. He is on record that he plans to be drunk. We’re asking Chris Scott about his star player’s Instagram usage and far from being scandalous, the Cats boss reckons we’re failing to get the whole context. What does the water emoji mean, Chris? There’s a proliferation of horse racing stories sprouting up like colourful weeds in a neglected lawn. Owner vs jockey anyone?
To appreciate the triviality of spring sport content, you only need to look to the NBA, where as the kids say, sh*t is getting real.
Imagine how big a deal it would be if an AFL and NRL coach were embroiled in an illegal gambling scandal? What if the coach were a hall of famer? What if we threw in a current player? How about if we tossed in a connection to arguably the GOAT to play the sport?
That’s going down in the USA right now, as an FBI investigation resulted in more than 30 arrests. If we thought some off-site peptide usage was the “darkest day in Australian sport history”, I wonder where this sits in America.
Chauncey Billups, coach of the Portland Trailblazer, is an NBA hall of famer alleged to have defrauded fellow poker players in games involving major mafia families.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is alleged to have taken himself out of a game, which he had encouraged a connection to wager on. A group of punters outlaid $260k USD.
Damon Jones is a former teammate and long-time assistant of LeBron James. He has been indicted amid claims he told a gambler to “bet big” on a game that the GOAT did not play in.
The whole saga raises a fascinating conversation around America’s struggles with punting. The USA’s involvement with wagering has exploded as regulations were weakened in the last ten years.
If like me, you want to understand how deep the rabbit hole goes then this excellent piece from Chris de Silva provides all the context you could need.
