Kyrie Irving goes on a lengthy rant against betting in sports: “Gambling and sports betting has completely taken the purity"
Kyrie Irving wants it to be known that while sports betting continues to take off in the United States, he isn't fully behind the development. While Irving didn't come out and condemn sports betting or anything of the sort, he believes there's a conversation to be had about its impact.
Across all professional sports, there has been an uptick in those who gamble, taking to social media to rip athletes for "causing" their parlays to fall apart. For those unfamiliar with the practice, a parlay is when a bettor adds multiple bets to their slip, such as Kyrie Irving with 20-plus, five-plus assists and one-plus steals.
All-or-none parlays, which require each leg of the bet to hit before the parlay cashes, have become increasingly popular. They offer a way to win more money thanks to the multiple criteria that must be fulfilled for the bet to cash.
In the wake of sports gambling being legalized in the U.S., athletes find themselves criticized when a parlay misses because of them or their team. During a recent video, Kyrie Irving said:
“Gambling and sports betting has completely taken the purity and the fun away from the game at times. … There's a difference between being a diehard fan and supporting your team and loving your team versus somebody that's betting on a parlay or somebody that wants to hit.”
“Gambling and sports betting has completely taken the purity and the fun away from the game at times…There's a difference between being a diehard fan and supporting your team and loving your team vs somebody that's betting on a parlay or somebody that https://t.co/OdjEnr4lgP… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
You can view his comments in the video above.
Sports betting in the NBA
While sports betting has largely become normalized in regards to U.S. sporting events, leagues must do everything they can to keep things fair and honest. When Adam Silver became NBA commissioner in 2014, replacing David Stern, he knew something needed to be done.
With the Pandora's box of betting essentially open thanks to the internet, Silver knew there was no way to make it so bettors couldn't wager on NBA games. Instead, he leaned into it, working to help with regulations to promote fair and honest gambling practices.
The way he sees things, it's a great way to create engagement among fans. In 2021, Siler was quoted by NBC Sports in regards to sports gambling, saying:
"I think it’s very important that there be a regulatory framework both from the state and federal level, but then also from the league as well, to look out for problematic gambling, to make sure that we strike the right balance in the amount of betting promotion that happens around our games.”
Of course, the rise of sports gambling in recent years has simply been an extension of the gambling that took place long before the internet. As NBA fans are well aware, Michael Jordan was even accused of facing a secret suspension as a result of betting on Bulls games.
For his part, Jordan has remained adamant in regards to denying the claim.
Below you can see Michael Jordan's five craziest gambling stories.