Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier arrested by FBI in gambling probe

When this story came up I couldn't help but think about all the gambling that Vlade, Bibby and crew did on the airplane flying to and from their away games. On several occasions Napier implied the stakes were quite large. I would hazard a guess that these "friendly" poker games were replicated with many other teams around the league. It seems to me criminal types could exploit this gambling culture by slowly but surely extending the boundaries of "friendly and above-board" into criminal activity.
 
The poker games seem like a minor thing (though perhaps the people who got conned by them are why they got investigated) compared to the fact that once you establish ties with the mob it bleeds into things like betting on games. Which it clearly did and has.

Why the NBA and other leagues have gone down this path normalizing gambling as part of the experience will never cease to befuddle me. I'm not a prude here, I've worked (F&B side) in casinos, I had friends that had a regular bookie, I view it like any vice: keep it private and certainly don't promote it to kids and other vulnerable populations.
 
pdxKingsFan said:
The poker games seem like a minor thing (though perhaps the people who got conned by them are why they got investigated) compared to the fact that once you establish ties with the mob it bleeds into things like betting on games. Which it clearly did and has.

Why the NBA and other leagues have gone down this path normalizing gambling as part of the experience will never cease to befuddle me. I'm not a prude here, I've worked (F&B side) in casinos, I had friends that had a regular bookie, I view it like any vice: keep it private and certainly don't promote it to kids and other vulnerable populations.
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Its all about $$.

In Australia, sports betting is out of control to the point that most teams jersey sponsors are betting companies and in every pre/post game media includes dedicated segments discussing odds and the hosts suggesting what are "good value" bets.

We now have government led agencies to try and curb the normalisation of gambling cause you have 12yo kids discussing odds.

What makes me laugh though is that in the 90's, cigarette advertising was banned cause of the impact on kids, it was replaced by alcohol companies which were then banned in the 2000's... which were replaced by (drum roll)... the gambling agencies and somehow could not see a pattern.
 
Kingster said:
When this story came up I couldn't help but think about all the gambling that Vlade, Bibby and crew did on the airplane flying to and from their away games. On several occasions Napier implied the stakes were quite large. I would hazard a guess that these "friendly" poker games were replicated with many other teams around the league. It seems to me criminal types could exploit this gambling culture by slowly but surely extending the boundaries of "friendly and above-board" into criminal activity.
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Gambling over cards on the plane is also what escalated into Javaris Crittenton pointing a loaded gun at Gilbert Arenas in the Wizards locker room 16 years ago. I keep going back to the Tim Donaghy scandal and how it never sat right with me the way the NBA aggressively portrayed that situation as one rogue employee who could be isolated and removed. There is a gambling culture in the NBA, has been for a long time, and they probably should try to address that before they put a team in Vegas.
 
QWERTYLICIOUS said:
I'm just going to come out and state it. Compared to David, Adam sucks.
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Stern's legacy isn't unblemished imho, but when you compare him to just about every commissioner in my 51 years of life, he and Pete Rozelle stand alone with Paul Tagliabue a fairly distant third. I guess Peter Ueberroth and Bart Giamatti also didn't work overtime to destroy baseball like everyone that followed.

Meanwhile Silver's peers include Goodell, Manfred, Bettman, and Don Garber.
 
pdxKingsFan said:
Stern's legacy isn't unblemished imho, but when you compare him to just about every commissioner in my 51 years of life, he and Pete Rozelle stand alone with Paul Tagliabue a fairly distant third. I guess Peter Ueberroth and Bart Giamatti also didn't work overtime to destroy baseball like everyone that followed.

Meanwhile Silver's peers include Goodell, Manfred, Bettman, and Don Garber.
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Just for the record...I never said that it was. :):):)
 
Capt. Factorial said:
I want this scandal to blow up so big and encompass so many NBA players that Adam Silver is forced to resign as commissioner in shame and flee the country to somewhere that doesn't have an extradition treaty to the U.S., and I don't care how many my favorite players have to go to prison to make that happen.
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Could this be the new banana boat? Adam Silver and a grip of former NBA stars all living it up on an island somewhere with their gambling winnings?
 
Capt. Factorial said:
I want this scandal to blow up so big and encompass so many NBA players that Adam Silver is forced to resign as commissioner in shame and flee the country to somewhere that doesn't have an extradition treaty to the U.S., and I don't care how many of my favorite players have to go to prison to make that happen.
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This would be a Dream scenario!! This clown came out and literally told fans the regular season doesn’t matter just watch the highlights
 
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