During Detroit Pistons’ media day, Duncan Robinson was asked a question about gambling that drew an awkward silence from the room as everyone ignored the elephant in it.
Robinson was asked if fans ever give him grief over lost prop bets and whether he thinks these types of bets should be banned.
I wasn’t in the room, but watching it online, it sure seemed like an awkward moment that Robinson stumbled through, eventually getting to some sad truths about the state of the NBA and gambling.
Robinson treaded lightly on the subject but did say that “60-70%” of his interactions with fans somehow involved prop bets, whether it is angry people online complaining that he cost them a bet or people in his DM’s thanking him for helping them hit a big one.
I was alarmed that much of his interaction with fans involves this particular subject, and it illustrates the kind of grip gambling has on the NBA right now.
I like to gamble at times, so I am not clutching my pearls here, but that question and the awkward response it elicited show how players, fans and the media still don’t know how to talk about gambling and how it is affecting the game.
Pistons’ media day had a big elephant in the room that was rarely addressed
If you aren’t aware, former Pistons guard Malik Beasley is currently under both federal and league investigation for gambling, and they are specifically looking at particular prop bets that were made when Beasley was on the Bucks.
Proposition bets are simply ones where you bet whether a player or team will hit certain marks, for example, “will Duncan Robinson make more than four 3-point shots” etc... and the ubiquity of these types of bets has certainly changed how some fans watch the game.
They aren’t interested in the overall outcome, just the specific ones that affect their bets, and we see a lot of people get lured into ridiculous parlay bets that have astronomical odds of winning, which is why they pay out.
Just from personal anecdote, a large percentage of social media posts I see from NBA fans are related specifically to these types of bets, and these bettors aren’t shy about letting players know when they don’t get the outcome they desire.
I have no idea if the reporter did that on purpose, but it did get awkward in there for a minute, and that awkwardness is a reflection of how a lot of fans feel about gambling and the NBA, especially with multiple players currently under investigation.
It's an issue the league keeps trying to shove under the rug, but it's one that is not going away.