Sports betting can be confusing for players, so the NBA helps them see what is wrong and right

LAS VEGAS (AP) — One Jontay Porter was one too many for the NBA when it comes to sports betting.

The NBA has spurred American professional sports leagues’ push into once-forbidden territory while trying to balance betting and the integrity of the game. The NBA has created guidelines and an educational program to train employees from the league office to players, coaches and staff at individual teams to understand the potential pitfalls of rule violations.

Violations of these established guidelines can result in a lifetime ban.

“A lot of what’s happening is a lack of awareness, a lack of sophistication about what’s OK and what’s not,” said Baird Fogel, a California attorney who works with the sports betting industry. “For some people it seems like a given, but for many… it’s uncharted territory.”

When Porter played for the Toronto Raptors, it became an expensive area.

He received a lifetime ban in April for betting on games – including the Raptors’ loss – and disclosing confidential information to players.

To prevent more cases like this from occurring, the NBA is working with the National Basketball Players Association to make combating sports betting a priority.

Freshmen attend a sports betting session as part of their required general education, which also includes on- and off-field topics such as dealing with financial matters and interacting with coaches, teammates and media.

Dalton Knecht, who was drafted 17th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers this year, said the league is doing a good job of not overcomplicating the issue.

“Personally, I’m not playing,” Knecht said after a preseason game against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas. “I won’t go play. They talk about it. They will say, “You can’t bet on anything,” and so on. They keep it simple.”

But it’s not just beginners. Everyone wearing NBA uniforms is required to attend an annual anti-betting meeting conducted by either the league or the player’s respective team. Failure to appear, absent a valid excuse, will result in a fine of $100,000.

League and team personnel also undergo similar training.

“Maintaining the integrity of our game is paramount and has been so since long before sports betting was legalized in the United States,” the league said in a statement to The Associated Press. “We have a diverse compliance and monitoring program…”.

But things are not always that simple.

Fogel said complicating matters in part is that leagues and teams have professional relationships with sportsbooks that can blur the lines between what is acceptable and what is not.

After Commissioner Adam Silver wrote a comment The New York Times Nearly a decade ago, the NBA supported the legalization and regulation of sports betting and in 2018 became the first major American professional sports league to sign a contract with a gambling company when it agreed to a deal with MGM. The league has also signed FanDuel and DraftKings as official sponsors in 2021.

Teams have their own agreements. The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics, for example, agreed to a deal with FanDuel in May to sponsor a documentary during their successful run Record 18th championship.

Leagues and teams are keen to capitalize on the huge sums of money generated by such sponsorship revenue while ensuring that the perception that the games are played fairly is not altered.

“I think it’s getting harder and harder for a player to know what’s wrong or right,” Fogel said.

Changing enforcement rules in different sports have also created potential confusion.

The NCAA decided last year to consider several factors, including the size of bets, before weighing what penalties to levy. The largest governing body for university sports also relaxed the rules for reinstatement.

The NBA, working with the players’ union, has maintained the same disciplinary rules that have been in place since shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way six years ago for all states to legalize sports betting.

Thirty-eight states and Washington, DC have now legalized sports betting, and the NBA, like other leagues, is trying to move with the times. Fogel said the uncertainty about what is allowed becomes even greater because each state has its own rules and regulations.

“Look, we’ve just seen a sea change in sports betting,” Fogel said. “The same organizations that are now entering into these sponsorship relationships with the Caesars and the MGMs of the world are the same ones that were on the other side of the Supreme Court decision in 2018 imploring the Supreme Court not to legalize sports betting.”

“It is understandable that there is a lot of confusion and the best way to overcome this is through education and training.”

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Freelance writer WG Ramirez contributed to this report.

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