Jayson Tatum on sports betting in the NBA: “Fans yell shit all the time, shoot one more three, get one more rebound, get 25 before the half is over… I guess I do feel bad when I don't hit people's parlays. I dont want to them lose money.”
Jayson Tatum weights in on the relationship between sports betting and the NBA
NBAThursday, 28 March 2024 at 01:30
Recently, the Boston Celtics' superstar, Jayson Tatum, made some comments about this new fans-players relationship regarding sports betting. This kind of gambling has been one of the most discussed topics the last couple of weeks and now one of the major protagonists shared his point of view regarding this delicate situation.
After everything that's been happening around the NBA, first with the Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bieckerstaf and the threats that's he has received from gamblers, to the current investigation that the league is conducting on the Raptors' player Jontay Porter, it was a matter of time that the main players addressed this subject.
When Tatum spoke to the media this week, he fielded questions regarding this intricate scenario:
"Fans yell shit all the time, shoot one more three, get one more rebound, get 25 before the half is over...I guess I do feel bad when I don't hit people's parlays, I don't want them to lose money."
Jayson Tatum said that this wasn't what people was yelling on court when he entered the league, so definitely something has changed.
What Tatum might be inferring here could be something that other NBA players have addressed before. Kyrie Irving for example, had stated a while ago that he feels that sports betting have taken away the purity of the game. There's a big difference between a die hard fan and somebody who's just looking to make money with the game's outcome.
Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter from the Sacramento Kings have expressed themselves on social media commenting that they couldn't care less about anyone's parlays. Monte Morris also shared Irving's point of view, saying that the purity of the game is being taken away.
The league might have to re-think this whole situation regarding bettings, now that the main characters of the NBA, players and coaches, are starting to see and suffer in some cases, the real consequences of more money involved into the game.
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