"Players are trying their best to win; the games are on the level. If you lose that, if the games are fixed or the players are motivated by something other than the competition, the whole thing collapses. (This is why sports gambling was banned for nearly 100 years after the Black Sox scandal; it was understood by everyone involved, until very recently, that players and coaches gambling on their own games was sports' third rail.) There's no reason to watch a game you can't believe"
"Though the massive gambling scandal that has engulfed the NBA on Thursday when federal prosecutors hit players and coaches with charges isn't the equivalent of fixing the World Series in 1919, things like the Heat's Terry Rozier allegedly making prop bets on a game is how something like that starts, and it's very much in the same ballpark: manipulating a game, and your performance in that game, for reasons that have nothing to do with the game itself. It breaks down everything."
"The first involves illegal poker games rigged by various mafia crime families, a complex scheme complete with infrared scanners, in which players built up gambling debts they'd owe the mob. The primary sports connection here is that various NBA figures are connected, most notably Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups; their "celebrity," such as it is, was a way to lure players into games in which the mob would then cheat them out of any winnings."
Professional sports rely on the fundamental premise that competition is genuine and players seek to win, and that premise preserves fan interest despite scandals. A recent NBA gambling scandal involves two related cases: mafia-run rigged poker games that created debts and used celebrity figures to lure players, and allegations that players and coaches supplied insider information or placed bets on games. Instances such as alleged prop bets by Terry Rozier illustrate how manipulation of performance or outcomes undermines competitive integrity. Historic responses like the near-century ban on sports gambling followed similar threats to trust. Loss of belief collapses the sport's appeal.
Read at Intelligencer
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