Pointing out stories you might have missed. Gilbert Arenas has been admonished by the NBA for making $10 bets with fans during the Washington Wizards’ loss at Portland last week. “We spoke to Gilbert and explained the issue to him,” NBA spokesman John Acunto said. “And he assured us he wouldn’t do anything like this again.”Arenas made the bets as he bantered with fans throughout the Wizards’ 100-98 loss. He was booed during pregame introductions and whenever he touched the ball because he had promised to score 50 points against the Trail Blazers.
After the game, Arenas said he bet a fan $10 that he would make the game-winning basket. He missed badly - throwing up a shot that fell short of the rim - and finished with only 19 points. “I owe somebody 10 bucks,” Arenas said. “I bet a fan if I had a chance I would make the last shot.”
Arenas later elaborated on his nba.com blog, saying that he made $10 bets with two fans during the game and had obtained their e-mail addresses so that he could pay them off. The NBA since has removed the references to the bets from the blog.
News source: MSNBC.com
2 comments:
I found this story humorous... Gilbert is always good for an interesting story.
In principle, betting with fans on the outcome of a game creates problems with integrity on several levels, but the spirit of the bets also reveal personality and a sense of harmless fun and friendly competition.
The size of the bet also makes it nominal more than anything else. I can understand why the NBA was quick to nip this in the bud, but I don't think it be any more of a scandal.
Hi FJ,
I don't really follow the NBA that much - but the story was just so good, I couldn't resist it.
Like you, I can see why the NBA acted in this case!
Keep smiling
David
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