CLEVELAND — As an NBA coach, JB Bickerstaff is used to making headlines related to his team’s play on the court, but on this day he made headlines for his comments on sports betting. In a pregame press conference Wednesday, Bickerstaff said the harassment of sports bettors had “gone too far.”
“Personally, I’ve had my own instances with some sports players where they got my phone number and sent me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that, so it’s a game dangerous and a fine line that we walk, that’s for sure,” he said.
He said he took the starters out of a game with a huge lead, a normal coach’s move, but he will be yelled at by some fans in the seats who fear that without those players the team would fail. will not cover the gap.
“It brings added pressure; it brings, you know, a distraction into the game that can be difficult for players, coaches, referees and everyone involved in it,” he said. “And I think we really have to be careful how we approach the game.”
This pressure surfaced last year in Ohio, in the early weeks of sports betting, when University of Dayton men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant was forced to respond to hate messages received by some of its players from players unhappy with recent defeats. Grant emotionally reminds fans that these are only kids ages 18-22.
“It makes me sick,” Grant said. “They have families. They don’t deserve this.”
Ohio took the immediate step of passing a law last year giving the Casino Control Commission the power to ban players who make threats. And last month, Gov. Mike DeWine teamed up with the NCAA to convince the Casino Control Commission to eliminate incidental betting on college gamblers in an effort to reduce pressure on them. Movements in other states now follow
“Ohio has proven to be a bit of a pioneer when it comes to regulating sports betting, even though it’s a relatively new entrant,” said Geoff Zochodne, sports betting analyst at Covers.com. “The Casino Control Commission has shown that it is not afraid to act if it deems it necessary.”
Zochodne said he was not surprised by Bickerstaff’s comments. “We’ve heard similar talk in the NBA recently from Rudy Gobert and Tyrese Haliburton,” he said.
The Timberwolves’ Gobert was fined $100,000 by the NBA for making a monetary gesture toward the referees after being warned for a foul late in the game against the Cavaliers. And Haliburton, a guard for the Indiana Pacers, told The Athletic: “For half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever. I’m a prop,” Haliburton said.
“So clearly this is something that people around the league are concerned about,” Zochodne said.
The NCAA launched its “Draw the Line” campaign this week aimed at raising awareness about addiction and bullying among students after their research found that one in three D1 athletes had received threats.
Bickerstaff, meanwhile, says the line between acting and gambling has never been thinner. And he said he understands how some fans might feel about a bet that is influenced by the people standing right in front of them.
“A lot of times people who gamble like, that money, you know, pays their electric bill, their rent and then the emotions that come with that, so I think we walk a very fine line and we have to be extremely careful in protecting everyone involved.
A spokesperson for Ohio Governor Mike DeWine told News 5 his office made sure the Ohio Casino Control Commission was aware of Coach Bickerstaff’s comments. “Governor DeWine is concerned about such threats, and he believes all Ohioans and sports fans should be concerned as well.”
