Those NBA Gambling Fools

by John Kass

Sunday October 26, 2025

Years ago, the great Chicago sportscaster David Kaplan invited me on his TV show to talk sports.

Before the show, as we stood in the CLTV washroom applying our makeup like manly sports talk guys, he asked me about topics.

I was ok with the Bears, and White Sox and Blackhawks–(I’m half Canadian) but I told him I couldn’t venture into the dangerous territory of pro basketball and the National Basketball Association.

But he persisted and I liked him, and so with cameras rolling he asked again about the me and the NBA.

“I don’t watch it,” I said.

Awkward silence. The other guys on the panel shifted in their seats, uncomfortably.

Why?

“Two words,” I said. “Latrell Spewell.”

Sprewell, a good, aggressive player, choked his coach in a rage. The typical mealy mouthed voices sought to mitigate his problem. He wasn’t kicked out of the league. He was suspended and missed only a few games. Since then, I haven’t much watched the NBA. I began turning off to the NBA. They merely fined him.

Jordan and the Bulls kept me watching for a bit. Jordan was great, of course, but really, the thread had been broken and one of my favorite sports moments involved interviewing Jordan–during his “vacation” from pro-basketball playing outfield for a White Sox minor league team. He couldn’t hit the curveball but we talked about how he’d track a fly ball in the outfield and run to the spot where he figured it would fall. I remember how clear Jordan’s eyes were, talking it out.

But after Sprewell, I was done.

It wasn’t something to argue about. I was just done.

But for all the other fools who stayed and watched the NBA and gambled on the games, there is the great NBA gambling scandal.

An editorial in the Wall Street Journal asks if anyone is surprised? Gambling, millions of dollars to win, are you really surprised? Human beings fix sports, from the World Series to prize fighting and horse racing. If there is money and humans, it’s only a matter of time. The Journal said this:

The FBI uncovers a new sports betting scandal, as the feds indict Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and others.

Is there anybody left in America who’s shocked, shocked to find that crooked gambling is going on in here? As professional sports leagues have embraced lucrative legal betting, it has created temptations that go beyond the stands and the fans. Now the feds accuse a current NBA player of tipping off gamblers about a planned injury, while a coach is charged with taking part in poker games rigged by the New York mob.

Seven years ago, the Supreme Court struck down a federal law that effectively banned sports betting in most states, which has since proliferated. The NBA has DraftKings and FanDuel as official gaming partners.

“In the first eight months of this year, Americans legally wagered $99.09 billion with commercial sportsbook operators,” the American Gaming Association recently said. Practically anything can be a wager, including the color of Gatorade that will get dumped on the NFL coach who wins the Super Bowl.

“This is the insider trading saga for the NBA,” FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday, unveiling two indictments of more than 30 people. Among the defendants is Terry Rozier, who plays for the Miami Heat. Before a 2023 game, when he was with the Charlotte Hornets, prosecutors say Mr. Rozier alerted an associate that he would “prematurely remove himself” for a “supposed injury.” That information was sold to gamblers, who profited from betting on his performance.”

Actually, two scandals are in play, with more to come.

One is “Current and Former National Basketball Association Players and Four Other Individuals Charged in Widespread Sports Betting and Money Laundering Conspiracy.”

And the other involves the New York Mafia families: 31 Defendants, Including Members and Associates of Organized Crime Families and National Basketball Association Coach Chauncey Billups, Charged in Schemes to Rig Illegal Poker Games.

 

 

 

The thing about sports gambling is that if it involves men and money, it really isn’t sport. You can call it sport, but you’re waiting for them to lie to you. And this chaos won’t end with these FBI investigations. It will infect all sports, down even the high school level. If you can bet on it–and the politicians have made that as easy as getting high on weed before getting into your car–it will all be ruined.

As I type this, famed sportscaster  Michele Tafoya is on the FOX News program Saturday in America w/ Kayleigh McEnany. They were talking about the players faking injuries and betting on themselves or against themselves. The big corporate gaming businesses are everywhere:

“We’re going to see this in amateur sports,” Tafoya said. “I think every sports league is freaking out wondering: ‘When is this going to touch us? These prop bets are in every single sport. If you’re a young guy, and you think you can influence a prop bet–a bet on your own stats—well of course you can influence a bet. You can take yourself out, you can turn the ball over, you can miss shots. You can do these things. Its insider information. It’s fraud and it’s a way to make money for yourself and for others.”

Who’s left to bet on pro sports? Only the chumbolones. Only the fools. Only the idiot college kids lost in some time warp thinking of coach Gil Thorp and Milford High School. Only those who put their faith in street rats. Just days ago I wrote about the Chicago Outfit boss Paul Ricca. In his mind, if you wanted to truly torture someone you hated, two in the back of the head was a blessing. If you wanted a rival to truly suffer, make them a gambler. It takes longer to die.

The thing is, this is insider trading. Like the U.S. Congressmen and women who somehow make fortunes in stock trades with information they pick up in Congress. You and I struggle to pay our bills, some have to wrangle shopping carts at a Walmart to make ends meet. But they don’t have to struggle. We’re the fools and they are the insiders.

They’re politicians and they lie and get away with it.

But steelhead don’t lie.

And Atlantic Salmon don’t lie.

Why do some of us write about fishing as if we’re in church? With reverence. I felt that way once facing death, before going under trying to will myself to dream of that river up north.

Fish never lie to you.

 

 

On the river, there are no sportswriters, there are no stats, there are no quotes. There are no words, no trash talk, no bling. I think of the great fly fishermen I’ve known on that river up north, Steve the Pilot and Ross the Baker casting dry flies. I can no longer walk a river. But at home in my chair I think often of them, pure fishing, fishing purely.

They don’t cheat. They don’t brag on the number of fish they catch or the weight, or the length and girth. They are fly fishermen, purposely making it harder to land the big fish. That’s true sports. And they’re sportsmen.

Out there, there is the great heart of a great fish you can feel thumping up and down the line.

No lies. Just truth. Just mastery. And the river.

 

-30-

About the author: John Kass spent decades as a political writer and news columnist in Chicago working at a major metropolitan newspaper. He is co-host of The Chicago Way podcast. And he just loves his “No Chumbolone” hat, because johnkassnews.com is a “No Chumbolone” Zone where you can always get a cup of common sense.

Merchandise Now Available: If you’re looking for a gift for that hard-to-buy for special someone who has everything, just click on the link to the johnkassnews.com store.

Where else would you find a No Chumbolone™ cap or a Chicago Way™ coffee cup?

Because I know this about you: You’re not a Chumbolone.

 

Comments 44

  1. All the gambling commercials on TV cheapens the sporting experience in my eyes. Great commentary on the NBA, the worst of the sports leagues. The NFL isn’t far behind. Go fish!

    1. There needs to be two separate pieces of the NFL. One is the era when football was actually played such as the ’85 Bears. Steelers, Packers, Dolphins, etc. When tackles were actually permitted, instead of now, when QBs and receivers wear dresses and heels.

  3. “On the river, there are no sportswriters, there are no stats, there are no quotes. There are no words, no trash talk, no bling. I think of the great fly fishermen I’ve known on that river up north, Steve the Pilot and Ross the Baker casting dry flies. I can no longer walk a river. But at home in my chair I think often of them, pure fishing, fishing purely.”

    Secondary schools become sport-gladiatorial academies, La Lumiere School in LaPorte, Indiana. When I taught there in the late 1980s and early 1990s, sport was a scholarly obligation and everyone played, wrestled and competed. The outcomes were not largely ‘satisfying’ to use John Dewey’s poisonous sobriquet for lying and cheating. Today, LaLumiere School is an ESPN pet and The Lakers are always nationally ranked.

    Blue Chip players from Serbia, Kenya, Australia and pan-USA stomp teams nationally, while local young Hoosier Larry Byrds stomp teams locally. Two-tiered basketball programs operate these days. The school population is up and the finances are robust. Was that the vision for a Catholic boarding school dedicated to ” Character, Scholarship and Faith?” What do I know?

    I know La Lumiere is built around a magnificent spring-fed lake overpopulated with blue gill, crappie, red ear and combative large mouth bass. The lake is rarely fished, but for the May to August fish -outs by Frank Anderson and Pat Hickey.

    We worry not about point-spreads or rankings or ESPN sponsorships, because we stay busy hooking the wall-eyed creatures in the mouth.

    Character, Scholarship and Faith dart below the waves of that gorgeous lake enough for two gents from Michigan City.

  4. Few places are better than being out on a river (or lake) with good fishing buddies. Getting somewhat proficient in fly fishing basics is a humbling challenge and there’s nothing better than when you finally figure out how to start getting some strikes and eventually landing a few fish. True sport.

    1. Todd, you are absolutely correct. There is nothing like being on the river or stream, trying to outsmart the very smart trout. I have seen a doe with her spotted offspring walking along the river. Or the huge, majestic, 12-point buck having a morning drink. Away from people, noise, and cell phones. That’s life in the slow lane, and I love it.
      Tom

  6. Thanks again John. As a Bears fan living in Chiefs area, I know what you mean. When that so called celebrity Kelce thumped his head coach in the Super Bowl before last, I lost all respect for the Chiefs. Between the academy award winning fake Mahomes, and Travy Wavy (Tay Tay’s boy toy) and to the incredible coward Reid, who just sat there and took it, I have no use for the entire team.
    The gambling sites should be thoroughly investigated. No more advertising. No more gimmies like gamble 5$ and if you win, get $100 in credits. Also fine the sleaze that promote this.

  7. The politicians lust for money to buy more votes and gambling taxes are just another way to get the money. The masses fall for the hope of hitting it big, rather than taking the time to think about how they are playing a losing game. To continue the fishing analogy, the masses fell hook, line, and sinker for the politician’s shell game. Money breeds corruption, more money breeds more corruption, and so on. The chumbolones continue to lose, as usual.

  8. Watching Pete Rose fade and not see himself in the HOF seemed like a fitting punishment for his gambling sins. Seems he had a few other faults, that I can neither confirm or deny that make him less than a gentleman.
    Now that MLB, NFL, NBE and others are sponsored by gambling sites and announcers give out betting spreads during the game on air….Rose should be in the HOF immediately.
    I don’t gamble (too cheap), I don’t want to stop others from it, I feel no empathy or sympathy for those with the gambling addiction.
    Only question that I have is this, why are multimillionaires risking their job, legacy and freedom for a couple hundred thousand dollars.
    I bet none of them have a good explanation.

  9. Next as these scandals emerge, watch the leagues, teams and even sports booking companies wiggle to distance themselves and protect their brands and profits. The first few will test responses cooked by premium public relations agencies until the standard spin is refined and becomes repetitive. In time the deeds will become more common and the persistent fog spun will mute the core issue, cheating in the game itself and cheating in “gaming” (gambling). Socially the bar of integrity notches down again.

  11. Hello from Florida,First,Go Bears unless you are a Packers fan.Second,is anyone remembering Michael Jordan liked to gamble in Atlantic City before or after Knicks games? Not saying he bet on any sports games. Finally,not shocked about the NBA problem with ESPN and FanDuel etc. sponsorships. I am kind of shocked how long it is taking your Bulls to be a better team again. Is it that Jordan-Pippin-Rodman spoiled us or are the overpaid airball shooters just at United Center till they can find a Playoffs worthy other team? Final point about fishing,watch A River Runs through it directed by Robert Redford to have a sense of what John is telling us about real sport and the harmony with nature it brings. The novel is good,too.

  12. Great commentaries. I lost interest in NBA decades ago. Too many prima donnas, exorbitant salaries for merely bouncing a ball, a pass here or there, then tossing a ball in a basket. 2 or so hours of exercise, plenty of bench to catch wind. Add the trash music and lack of genuine role models, now gambling around game fixing. Fogettaboutit.

  13. Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa passed a federal law to limit on-line gambling back in 2007. the gambling interests went after him in his re-election and donated $hundreds of thousands to his Democrat opponent Dave Loebsack to help defeat him.

  14. Happened to watch a Michigan State Defender time his rush perfectly to get to the Michigan quarterback, cause a fumble and Michigan state recovered. Except the referee called him offside and the play was nullified and Michigan went on to score a touchdown. This call looked very suspicious to me.
    All these professional sports are like harness racing. You do not have to fix every game every week, just a select few.

    1. And the Georgia -Auburn game ? It was an Auburn TD and dead ball or it was a fumble and a Georgia TD the other way . What it was not is what the ref called . The ref that has now been indefinitely suspended , and upon further review , the call on the internet is confirmed : the guy was a chumbalone

  15. Great, great article and so true. We are just at the door of the crisis that sports gambling is causing. It is hard to imagine what carnage will take place over the next couple of years. How many lives will be ruined? Yes gamblers make the choice, but addiction is a different animal.

  16. Good article, especially the end. To paraphrase the late H G Tapply I live 10 days a month during the duck season. I do to, and while trout fishing or surf fishing. Sports betting beyond a super bowl or world series pool is for fools.

  17. Good article.
    I look at it this way as well: just another ponzi scheme to foist on the public.
    Gambling is bad we are told (just like marijuana) but we got Las Vegas and now online betting. If it’s so bad, why have it? Because of the easy money. All those sanctimonious politicians making budget line items for online gambling and marijuana sales and how they spend it. As for the addicts? A nice toll free number to call.

  18. Porcelain Prince Pritzker will never see it account his prenatal triple and million dollar hand, but government debases us with their revenue-driven stake in our vices. Legalize then tax every destructive addiction that Satan himself can devise.

  19. Well done reasoning.
    I’ve given up on so called professional sports. It’s become WWE.
    When you ‘forgive’ the likes of Rose and the smiling clown Sammy Sosa (baseballs new minstrel Stephan Fetchit) I gave it all up. Don’t care anymore. In chicago our owners are cheap SOBs who don’t give a scat about fans. With the exception of the Flubs the other teams are unwatchable. And have you seen the prices these teams charge for even their cheapest seats?
    Forgeddaboutit. I rediscovered my local library and am enjoying it!

  20. I think fishing is great, though I don’t have the patience for it myself. I do know that fisherman are pretty famous for “exaggerating” though. That, of course, is not fraud because no one loses. Occasionally a story will crop up about cheating in a fishing competition, which is fraud. If fishing got more popular, you can be sure gambling would develop around it. If church got popular, gambling would develop over when in the sermon certain words would appear. And after that, someone would find a pastor willing to throw the sermon.

    I doubt there is a worthwhile activity that couldn’t be corrupted.

    1. I was thinking the same thing about fishing, when the arms are always stretched forward to make the fish look bigger than the fisherman for the photo. This reminds me of the great words of BB King, “Nobody loves me but my mother…and she might be jivin’, too”.

  21. Great (true) article and many on point replies. Never watched basketball – played as a youth, but now, same basket height with players just about able to drop the ball in the net without their feet leaving the floor. Liked Steve Kerr with his pinpoint shooting at his shorter height.
    I’ll take fishing. Wasn’t a river fisherman like you, John. I have always fished lakes, my favorite to fish for being Walleye. My biggest fish however, was a 36″ Muskie and I have a picture of me holding it out on my wall in my little den space. Love reading your articles (all of them of course) but the fishing ones make me get antsy to be in a boat up in Wisconsin in the evening, casting a favorite lure toward the shore and reeling it back while waiting for a hard strike. As my older brother used to say, “I need to wet a line.”

  22. Timely article as noted John. The lawsuits haven’t even begun to fly yet, but to quote Flounder from “Animal House”..” boy, this is gonna be good..”. Everyone is going to end up suing everyone. Vegas is going to get sued and going to sue. Online betting sites are going to get sued. The NBA is going to get sued. Yes, Donald Trump is going to get sued..(it’s always Trumps fault, don’t you get it?) Billions of dollars lost on these corrupt “games”. My guess is JB the Hutt probably won millions on these bets too. Those in the know…KNOW. This is only the tip of the iceberg. The NFL has made many questionable calls in recent games that demonstrates their fingers on the scale with favoring certain rating heavy teams. Yes, it’s all good clean fun for sure. All legit or so I’m told….

  23. When the Bears beat Washington a couple of Monday nights ago, on their last-minute game winning drive, there was a sideline pass, where all number 20 of Washington had to do was shove the receiver out-of-bounds. Instead, he somehow swiped and missed him, and the receiver ran down the field, leading to the game winning field goal. Each time I saw it, it sure looked fake to me.

  24. The NBA faded way after Jordan, the NFL is like watching a courtroom drama, and MLB has become the reincarnation of the old TV show Home Run Derby.

    I cracked a smile when you wrote that “fly fishermen, purposely making it harder to land the big fish.” Made me think of a few days ago throwing a frog pattern for largemouths in a sea of lily pads thinking “how the hell will I ever get ’em outta there.” They ripped it and I did.

    Now I measure my remaining time on earth by how many more seasons I’ll be able to wade fast water. When that day comes, I’ll be glad I’d found largemouths from the bank. Try it. Beast vicious eats in the game. Bet on it.

  25. As Houli said about Chicago, “Nothing’s on the square”. Trump’s shooting was fake. The 2020 election was rigged. Tyler Robinson did not kill Charlie Kirk from that vantage point, with that weapon. Obama was a con man. Epstein was a money laundering, sex trafficking blackmailer for Israel and CIA, who blackmailed Bill Clinton and is also blackmailing Trump from the grave. Mysteriously, has bank account was still active after his death, transferring millions.

    Sports and politics, while always spectacle, have become WWE. They take turns being the villain, everything is scripted. We are all played for fools. Which is why, while I totally endorse turning ones’ back on the Democratic Party and all elected Democrats, why lick Trump’s boots and tolerate this bullshit that is being played daily?

    The CIA needs to be shut down. Same with FBI. We have 800 military bases around the world. At least 2/3 of them need to be closed. China has one base outside of China.

    China is building infrastructure, both in China and in other nations. They are building equity. USA blows people up. Trump was accurate when he told Biden that China was eating his lunch.

    The oligarchs and the corporations are eating our lunch daily, playing us all for fools. The government is for sale and has been. The Biden crime family are not the only ones who have profited bigly from his political office.

    You all know this. Why not support Thomas Massie, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene and demand better?

    Instead, lets talk about men in shorts running around pretending to play a game that’s on the square.

  26. My trust is broken. I always thought the NBA was honest, the players earnest in their defense, their offense totally unselfish, always giving their best efforts. I always thought JB Pritzker was a genius card counter too.

    1. I know your comment was sarcasm, but I quit watching the NBA when players developed the ability to catch a pass at mid-court, bounce it once and slam-dunk without being called for traveling.

  27. My dad gave me his fly rod a few months before he died almost 30 years ago. My grandfather and dad were both avid fishermen. I have fond memories of deep sea fishing with my dad and grandfather, but I never learned the art of fly fishing.
    When my dad handed me his fly rod, he made me promise I’d hang on to it, never sell it, and learn how to use it. I’ve only held up 2 out of the 3 promises. I would love to find this stream you speak of and hopefully learn how to use it someday.
    JG

  28. Thanks John for another spectacular Sunday column. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 2 years since your surgery. I’m also too old to retreat into the outdoors and enjoy quiet rivershores like I did 50 years ago . But I live in a heavily wooded area; so landscaping and raking leaves keeps me active. When I ask friends and relatives how they can forgive Oregon Democrats for coddling violent mobs who attack law enforcement year-after-year, they always tell me the rivers are their source of sanity. They hike, hunt and spend weekends fishing for trout, salmon and steelhead ; just like their fathers and grandfathers did.

  29. John, excellent column on the gambling issue! I gave up on the NBA a long time ago (25 years) like you. I played B-Ball in H.S., college, and weekly pick-up games at our church into my 40’s. I have enjoyed NCAA B-ball, but it’s also heading into the gambling scene and the whole transfer portal is ruining it as a sport. Ahh, but fishing, that’s a true sport! I prefer lake vs. river fishing, but chasing walleye pike up north or largemouth bass here on Florida lakes is real sport and gets one out in nature! The best fishing for me though, is chasing sea trout, snook and redfish in the shallows around Tampa Bay! That is great sport!

  30. NFL has FanDuel as its “Official” partner. Look at the millions wagered every month in just the Indiana casinos. This is supposed to be a fair to poor economy.
    I’m concerned about all the young men involved with legalized gambling and the pervasive availability of marijuana

  31. They say a fool and his money are soon parted. Let fools gamble away their cash. Moreover, I believe the real granddaddy of betting scandals is not far down the road.

  32. The fact is that we have puppet-masters systemically corrupting EVERY institution in American life under the guise of reducing crime. The dirty little secret is that crime is NOT reduced; it’s just shifted to a different arena. Want to cut down on the number of people arrested for smoking weed? Make it legal, even though that results in more traffic deaths caused by stoners. Want to lower the number of traffic deaths? Install cameras, even though that results in more people going to jail for bribery. Want to cut down on the number of people arrested for illegal gambling? Make gambling legal, even though that results in more rigged games (Pricker won $1.4 million playing blackjack? I bet.) The end result of all this is loss of faith in the integrity of our institutions — which is EXACTLY what the puppet-masters wanted in the first place.

  33. Gen Z marriage rates have plummeted. There are many reasons for this, but I think that one reason is many young men have gambling problems. No woman wants to be married to a guy with a gambling problem.

  34. When I was a boy, it seemed gambling and weed were a bad thing. If you wanted to gamble, you had to go to either Vegas or Atlantic city. Eventually, there was a government run lottery on saturdays, you know, for the children. Otherwise, you needed to have “a guy” to place a bet, or have a game. Sure, this was in the shadows, but that made you look for it in those shadows, rather than having it waved in front of you as a constant temptation. Same with weed, it was a different world. I contend a better world (No bettor pun intended.) I’m no angel myself, as a young man I found “a guy” to place an occasional bet, and I was no stranger to weed. I was lucky, or diligent, enough to never create a habit. That said, how can these leagues expect to inundate society with gambling opportunities and yet pretend that there won’t be any corruption within their ranks? They can’t, they must look at it with some expectation of reasonable collateral damage. “A few bad apples” is all it will turn out to be, then back to business. I can’t help but recall the casino scene in Casablanca. I hope I’m not just having a “get off my lawn” moment.

  35. Behold the fisherman

    He riseth early and disturbs the household. He maketh mighty preparations and fareth forth full of hope. He returneth late,smelling of strong drink,and the truth is not in him.

  36. Nice work John. Just to set the record straight on Sprewell, his penalty for choking his coach was pretty high by NBA standards. He was suspended for a year without pay, and when an arbitrator reduced it from 82 to 68 games, Sprewell still lost $6.4 million in salary.

    I was almost expecting you to say Sprewell put you off the NBA in 2004 when he turned down a three-year, $21 million contract offer from Minnesota, explaining his decision to seek more by saying “I’ve got a family to feed.” Cue the tiny violins …

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