As sports betting has become legalized in 30 states across the United States over the last several years, more fans have committed money to the outcomes of games. The NBA has also seen an increase in fan aggression toward players over the last couple of years, including some highly visible incidents during the playoffs.
In a conversation with ESPN’s Malika Andrews ahead of the 2022 NBA draft lottery on Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he does not believe there is a correlation between the two trends. Silver instead thinks the rise in fan aggression is “part of a larger societal issue.”
“We are seeing enormous polarization, seeing political discourse, civil discourse … I think in some ways, we are a microcosm of that,” Silver said.
While Silver disagrees that betting has been directly linked to more fan aggression, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski thinks otherwise.
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In April, Nets guard Kyrie Irving flipped off a fan during a Boston-Brooklyn game. In a discussion on ESPN's NBA Today show, Wojnarowski shared an explanation on how sports betting would “impact the relationship between fans and players in real time.”
“When people are losing money in real time and they’re pointing to a player on the court and they’re saying, ‘Hey, I bet you to score more points in the second quarter than somebody else and I lost,’ you’re adding an element to that that we’re not talking as much about but is a real factor in this league,” Wojnarowski said. “You’re going to see more instances of fans being even more vitriolic toward players in this league.”
Less than two weeks ago, a video surfaced showing Suns guard Chris Paul in an altercation with a Mavericks fan that he said put hands on his mother while someone pushed his wife after Phoenix’s Game 5 loss to Dallas.
With more incidents between fans and players happening, Silver added that the NBA has increased security in arenas, saying it is the league’s “enormous responsibility” to ensure game safety.
“99.9% of fans are there to enjoy themselves, to be there with their families,” Silver said. “The last thing they want to see is hostility directed at them by other fans or certainly at the players or referees.”
