Cleveland Cavaliers news: There’s no denying that sports betting has blown up significantly over the past couple of years. Now that betting on games has become legal in the majority of the states in America.
This highly lucrative business has its ugly side too, though. Just ask Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Cleveland Cavaliers Coach J.B. Bickerstaff Has Received Threats Over Lost Bets
Bickerstaff recently opened up about the problems he’s encountered amid the exponential rise of sports betting around the NBA. The Cavs shot-caller revealed that he’s gotten all sorts of threats for himself and his family from random bettors who lost money during Cavs games:
“They got my telephone number and were sending me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that stuff,” Bickerstaff said, via Tom Withers of the Associated Press. “So it is a dangerous game and a fine line that we’re walking for sure.”
That’s horrific.
The good news is that according to Bickerstaff, authorities were able to identify one of the people who threatened him. The Cavs coach, however, has opted not to press charges.
While Bickerstaff understands that this is all part of the territory, the 45-year-old could not help but feel aggrieved by the dangers that have been brought about by sports betting:
“There’s no doubt about it that it’s crossed the line,” he said. “The amount of times where I’m standing up there and we may have a 10-point lead and the spread is 11 and people are yelling at me to leave the guys in so that we can cover the spread, it’s ridiculous.
“But again, I understand the business side of it and the nature of the business of it. But I mean, it is something that I believe has gone too far.”
Bickerstaff admits that all this has somewhat changed his mindset when heading into games. He believes that the same can be said about the players and even game officials, which is why the Cavs coach has sent out a not-so-subtle warning about this potentially slippery slope:
“It brings added pressure,” he said. “It brings a distraction to the game that can be difficult for players, coaches, referees, everybody that’s involved in it. And I think that we really have to be careful with how close we let it get to the game and the security of the people who are involved in it.
“Because again, it does carry a weight. A lot of times the people who are gambling like this money pays their light bill or pay their rent, and then the emotions that come from that. So I do think we’re walking a very fine line and we have to be extremely careful in protecting everybody who’s involved.”
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