NBA is not free from rig

[Nwada001]

It's not the NBA per se, but the players themselves, we have seen such cases already in the past, not just the players, but the referee themselves,

It’s no longer something new, indeed. We have read cases of it in the past, especially among young players, but this is just as a reminder that no matter how big the sport is or the team in question is, something fishy can still go on among them if greed comes into play. Most of those players are never throughly satisfied with what they have.

[r_victory]

No matter the size of the league, there will always be an opportunist waiting to take advantage of any situation that arises, and unfortunately, everyone has a price, even those who are well-paid for what they do, such as players and coaches. Greed is everywhere.

[Taskford]

just saw this  news....

Former NBA players Malik Beasley and Ed Davis and an NBA agent are among six defendants indicted Monday on charges related to an alleged sports gambling scheme that targeted at least four games during the 2023-24 season, according to a federal indictment released Monday.

Davis and co-defendants Rob Gorodetsky, Ernesto Plascencia and William Brown were arrested Monday, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. Beasley and defendant Paolo Zamorano, who was Davis' agent, were not in custody as of Monday morning.

Steve Haney, Beasley's attorney, said that they have coordinated with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the ex-player to voluntarily surrender this week.

"An indictment is not proof of guilt or evidence. It is merely a charge of probable cause," Haney said in a statement to ESPN. "The investigation was a year and a half long and we maintain Malik's innocence of all charges."

According to the indictment, Beasley lost millions of dollars gambling during his nine-year NBA career. He agreed to manipulate his statistics ahead of at least four games during the 2023-24 season while he was with the Milwaukee Bucks so that the co-conspirators could wager on the stats, according to the indictment.

This is his nba stats. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/beaslma01.html

So what does it say? It says that even major sports leagues are never free from manipulation.

And I’m pretty sure he is not the only one doing that. There could still be many active NBA players now who are doing it without being noticed, and if they do it successfully, they can make millions easily since sports betting is a billion-dollar industry.

By spreading their bets across different sportsbooks, they can successfully place a bet without making it too obvious.

So the reflection is, don’t trust the stats too much. Sometimes, you also have to look at the rigged angle.

NBA would provably do lots of necessary to avoid this situation to happen.

But there are players will do crazy things to take advantage on their current situation and good thing to see in that case is we see the league doing action or investigating that issues.

For now its good to follow the updates about the latest situation on their case. Then see if the said people will be penalized on those match fixing accusation or their named will be cleaned up from mess and proven that they didn't do anything wrong.

[ryzaadit]

IMO every leagues will always have potential to bw rigged.

But the different depends on how bigs is the leagues, a big leagues cost more money to be rigged. The different is always the cost, and how hard to rigged the game was.

Thats my two cents.

[rbynxx]

Are they the people who spreading their links here to sell some bets to join their premium community? Yeah we can't deny the fact that there could be some players making it but I think Beasley or his camp is just making assumptions just because they are in the hot seat. It would be wise if these players are doing that being unnoticed but if I'm a player I'd rather obey with the rules set than sacrifice my future.

[passwordnow]

That's why there were some questionable plays from him. And it's true that NBA is not free from being rigged and for the other sports as well. IIRC, there was this player who have been exposed and wasted his career. This is driven by greed and these players should have been happy with what they earn. Gambling money is just as quick as it is and they should not take advantage of their position. They're free to gamble when they're past their careers but not during theirs.

[EarnOnVictor]

I have always known this, even to the face of the strongest denial. They can only make it cleaners and difficult to know, but it's always present. Agents are doing more than you can think of them behind the scene, which could even make some players technically victims themselves.

TBH, it's crazy how common this might actually be behind the scenes these days. We are are losing millions gambling while some people are manipulating it. It definitely makes one questions the integrity of a lot of unexpected results.

[blockman]

Every sport and even in the grandest tournaments and sports that we know, they're not free from rig. Although the percentage and ratio is quite low but it can't be assured that they're all free and clean. Especially with the big money that they can potentially win, that's what they're going to looked at. And they're willing to replace and put their careers in the line just for that quick buck for which I don't think is worth it. Not unless that they see that their careers are going south and there won't be any offers to come for them. So, they take that risk.

[Peanutswar]

In my point of view is there is always an under the table transactions and manipulations in the top tier games leagues and this is just not vulgar tons of them has a contract of course wanted to make their reputation secured and for sure it against with their contract but imagine having a large amount of bet base on your skills and stats so you can easily now manipulate and win the game with a higher return. To them this could be fun and entertaining also additional they can earn profit no matter what the outcome is because they are paid in the contract but once they have seen breach the contract always there is a sanction like what he did there. If i were him i will not let my career ruins with this kind of small bet only.

[OgNasty]

While there have been a lot of arrests lately in the NBA for various things, when I first saw the subject of this thread the first thing that came to mind is the NBA messing with the draft lottery to always make sure the number one pick ends up with the right team. LeBron even commented on it a couple weeks ago.

[Nrcewker]

I think this happens in almost all major sporting events. The fact is that many of these incidents go undetected. Earlier, it used to happen mostly in lower-league games, where players’ salaries were very low. As a result, some players would engage in match-fixing and place bets on games to make some extra money.

It was sad to see such an incident occur in a major sports league. I’m sure his match fees and salary were already at the highest level. However, because he had reportedly lost a significant amount of money through gambling in the past, he decided to rig the game.

We can’t blame the NBA for this. Sporting events should be played with transparency, and without any cheating. Thank God he got caught.

[Oasisman]

Malik was previously linked to and accused of several instances of game manipulation, so I'm not surprised if he's now being legally charged for it. They might only have solid evidence for those 4 games, but I think he's doing it more often than that. That's why he got caught eventually, and I guess he's already made millions of dollars from it, which is why he's become fond of doing it.

So what does it say? It says that even major sports leagues are never free from manipulation.

And I’m pretty sure he is not the only one doing that. There could still be many active NBA players now who are doing it without being noticed, and if they do it successfully, they can make millions easily since sports betting is a billion-dollar industry.

By spreading their bets across different sportsbooks, they can successfully place a bet without making it too obvious.

So the reflection is, don’t trust the stats too much. Sometimes, you also have to look at the rigged angle.

Oh, I believe it too, he's not the only person doing it. There have been several players and coaching staffs getting legally charged for that same reason. Who does it more often will eventually get caught. They do it rarely, the chances of getting caught are less than to none.

No league is safe for manipulation. There are always those athletes who get greedy, instead of improving their skills to boost their value, yet they choose to take an easier path to make more money and rig games.

[DabsPoorVersion]

I think this happens in almost all major sporting events. The fact is that many of these incidents go undetected. Earlier, it used to happen mostly in lower-league games, where players’ salaries were very low. As a result, some players would engage in match-fixing and place bets on games to make some extra money.

It was sad to see such an incident occur in a major sports league. I’m sure his match fees and salary were already at the highest level. However, because he had reportedly lost a significant amount of money through gambling in the past, he decided to rig the game.

We can’t blame the NBA for this. Sporting events should be played with transparency, and without any cheating. Thank God he got caught.

Claiming that this happens in almost all major sporting events, what you have in mind is pure speculation unless it is supported by evidence. A statement that lacks data or evidence will only lead to misleading conclusions. Aside from that, not because they have lack of detection means that it is a widespread occurrence.

Besides, when there are allegations of game being rigged, this case falls under the responsibilities of the authorities to find a proper documentation that will serve as evidence to verify those allegations. Also, it is important to know how to perceive between the accusations backed by documented evidence and pure speculations.

[Natalim]

There have been many rumors before that the game is rigged, but it was never proven. But based on that report, it is not the NBA itself that is rigged. It is more on the player trying to take advantage of being an NBA player, where he can manipulate his own production while on the court.

That is hard to detect, but he was detected, and that is why there is a case against him, if my understanding is correct.

But despite it not being the NBA itself, it can still impact the game because even 1 point can already make a big difference. So you are right, we also have to consider this angle.

The thing about sports games is that there are always rumors of rigging going on but there's no proof of this, most sports fans or Bettors say that the game is being rigged even without knowing if that information is actually true. There is a possibility that this takes place in the NBA especially when a player tries to bet on themselves or on other athletes, normally this is something that's prohibited but some players attempt this and some even succeed in doing it, in such cases it is possible for this to happen.

I have known that already since years ago, but still, despite knowing the possibility, it is still hard for me to win in sports betting.

So although it is like an open secret kind of thing, we bettors still cannot really take advantage of that. It does not affect us much as bettors, but for those who are real fans of the sport, it has a big impact because it can destroy the credibility of the sport they love.

[Julien_Olynpic]

Rigged games are very difficult to prove. And I don't understand the basis for the charges. Was it simply because players showed abnormal statistics? But abnormal statistics can have, so to speak, an organic origin. In my opinion, to prove such serious charges, the prosecution's case must be very compelling. This includes conversation recordings, abnormal statistics, extremely atypical gaming behavior, and being caught red-handed while transferring money. The best evidence is when an undercover law enforcement agent is pretending to be involved in the scheme.

[viljy]

Rigged games are very difficult to prove. And I don't understand the basis for the charges. Was it simply because players showed abnormal statistics? But abnormal statistics can have, so to speak, an organic origin. In my opinion, to prove such serious charges, the prosecution's case must be very compelling. This includes conversation recordings, abnormal statistics, extremely atypical gaming behavior, and being caught red-handed while transferring money. The best evidence is when an undercover law enforcement agent is pretending to be involved in the scheme.

It is not known what evidence the prosecution has. It is very difficult to prove. Moreover, atypical behavior or abnormal statistics are not evidence at all and cannot be considered evidence. This is because they require a standard that answers the questions: What is abnormal? What is typical?

Therefore, if there is no real evidence, such as the recordings of conversations or financial transactions that you mentioned, the case will fail if the defense team is well-prepared. However, based on the information provided in the article, it appears that the investigation has some evidence.

And you're absolutely right to point out that, of course, it's difficult to prove the facts of manipulation, and many scams remain undisclosed or unproven. Especially if there are some very important people or institutions with power who are interested in it.

[khatarnak]

The games are rigged, but the players have the least influence on it.

Anyone who has bet on the NBA for years knows how much officiating can change the flow of a game.

A few foul calls one way, a few no-calls the other way,
suddenly one team can't attack the rim anymore and is forced into tough jump Shots.

Officiating have a much bigger impact on a game than any single player.

[swogerino]

There have been many rumors before that the game is rigged, but it was never proven. But based on that report, it is not the NBA itself that is rigged. It is more on the player trying to take advantage of being an NBA player, where he can manipulate his own production while on the court.

That is hard to detect, but he was detected, and that is why there is a case against him, if my understanding is correct.

But despite it not being the NBA itself, it can still impact the game because even 1 point can already make a big difference. So you are right, we also have to consider this angle.

I don't think it is very hard to detect as sometimes you will see heavy favorites with very low odds being beaten by weak underdogs. I have suffered this myself when Celtics leading the NBA lost to last place while having an odd of 1.04 which suggested a super easy win. I think in here some form of cheating happened as players at that game were not performing like first team players at all, I don't know how yet I know something deep inside was made so that Celtics could not win that game.

[ZeroVinsonN]

And how do you see this rigged angle? The simple truth is that this kinds of things are only obvious when they are exposed, that's why they've been thriving all these while because people can't very easily figure them out especially simple bettors like us, we don't know these players personally so we can't tell what their actual personalities are and there is no way they are actually doing any of this in their names so it's not like we can just look them up.

[Dave1]

Rigged games are very difficult to prove. And I don't understand the basis for the charges. Was it simply because players showed abnormal statistics? But abnormal statistics can have, so to speak, an organic origin. In my opinion, to prove such serious charges, the prosecution's case must be very compelling. This includes conversation recordings, abnormal statistics, extremely atypical gaming behavior, and being caught red-handed while transferring money. The best evidence is when an undercover law enforcement agent is pretending to be involved in the scheme.

It's very easy to proved, even you can watch the game that is being in question and you can see how players react on it and you see what the betting on him, like player props. They can see the pattern in betting as well.

If they see that someone has put big money on certain props, then that is already a red flag and Vegas can go and ask the NBA to look at it and together then can investigate on the player and that's how some of them has been busted like the question in the OP is. And I thought that he was out already with this case. But I guess I was wrong and NBA might have dig deeper and found anomaly on the way he plays.