IMO, the weak link in protecting NBA games from gambling hanky panky is the referees.
The bet to be focused on is the over/under.
Since officials can call as many fouls as they like, it doesn’t take too many “extra” fouls to award enough free throws to put the game “over” the target point total.
Blacks are easier to manipulate when it comes to doing the wrong thing. Entitled.
That’s why Pete Rose should never be in the HOF no matter how forgiving Tump is. Being forgiving of something like that is virtue signaling. Costs them nothing the next time it comes up.
It’s not just the over/under on point totals but Player Prop Bets as well.
These legalized sportsbooks offer a ton player propositional bets, things like how many assists a player has, how many rebounds a player gets, etc.
A referee calling a couple of quick fouls on a certain player can have a huge effect in the gambling world.
“... the weak link in protecting NBA games from gambling hanky-panky is the referees.”
Bingo! B-ball is one of the few sports where the refs think the crowd came to see them, not a contest. I expect to soon occasionally see a ref doing a ‘look-at-me’ dance after making a call that turns the tide of the game ... kinda like in the NFL where periodically several members of a team all run down to the end zone and perform a short, very choreographed routine.
I thought the NFL was going to call delay of game on that stuff ...