When asked if betting on the NBA has affected his relationships with fans, Jayson Tatum said that it hasn’t. Tatum has said that he dislikes it when supporters lose money as a result of his role in causing their parlay wager to collapse.
“Fans yell s— all the time, ‘Shoot one more three,’ ‘Get one more rebound,’ ‘Get 25’ before the half is over… It wasn’t like this my first few years,” Tatum said. “It’s definitely changed. When you do well and hit people’s parlay, they’ll tell me but they also talk sh*t when I don’t… I guess it’s kinda funny. I guess, I do feel bad when I don’t hit people’s parlays. I don’t want to them lose money.”
This is a rather significant insight, but most people will ignore it. It is detrimental to the game if Tatum feels pressured to shoot the ball by a heckling fan because he does not want them to lose money on their parlay. Players must to be shielded from spectators and other parties, particularly because gambling is now a regular occurrence in the NBA.
As seen by the continuing investigation into Jontay Porter, some of the negative repercussions of sport betting’s greater presence in the modern NBA are already being felt. In addition, a number of observers and supporters have criticized the NBA for forging more alliances and agreements that elevate sports.
Multiple Voices Speaking Out Against Sports Betting
When it comes to the impact of sports betting on the game, we have observed a definite pushback from NBA coaches and players during the month of March. Rudy Gobert was fined $100,000 for his controversial outburst earlier this month regarding the influence of referees on betting lines. Tyrese Haliburton then took to Twitter to express his displeasure at being viewed by fans worldwide as nothing more than a prop for betting.
Some players, including Terry Rozier and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, have come clean to the fans who are persistently bothering them about betting. Unfortunately, considering that every major sports league is a part of this network, it doesn’t seem like we are any closer to cutting the connections between organized betting and sport. The league finds it much too profitable to ignore, which has led to mistakes like the one Jontay Porter is currently having to make up for.
Due to the nature of parlay bets, which require just one player to be below average in order for your whole payoff to be rendered meaningless, sports betting frequently draws large crowds of supporters. Owing to this emphasis on single-player performances, hate crimes against individual players can often get more intense from game to game.
The players are human, after all, and Tatum doesn’t want fans who have wagered on him to be let down. That’s reasonable, but it must affect Tatum’s attitude during an NBA game. Hopefully, the league resolves this issue before another scandal involving the same surfaced.
