Two indictments. Massive probes. “Operation Royal Flush.” “Operation Nothing But Bet.” Well-executed operations that infiltrated pro sports in a manner we’ve not seen at this level in a while.
We’re in the midst of the second-longest government shutdown in modern history, and President Trump decides it’s cool to make the total destruction of the east wing of the White House a priority at the low-low cost of $300 million. Then this comes out of nowhere . . .
The US Justice Department laid out in detail this morning how several NBA players and coaches, including Heat guard Terry Rozier, allegedly used non-public information about upcoming NBA games to allow others to profit on betting. — CNN
The news struck as hard and as abruptly as the arrests seemed to come. One minute we’re all talking about how Victor Wembanyama is about to become the NBA’s Shohei Ohtani; the next minute (literally) the windbreakers (FBI, DOJ, etc.) metaphorically are on our phones, TVs and computer screens breaking the news to us that the beginning of the collapse — “takedown” — of the NBA is officially upon us.
We didn’t know that Rozier’s was just the first name being dropped. The next name was about to be “the one.”
When Trail Blazers coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups’ name surfaced less than an hour later in an unrelated gambling investigation along with the names of four of the five major New York mob families (Gambino, Lucchese, Bonanno and Genovese), that’s when the “uh-oh” set in.
Especially once ESPN removed the ESPN BET ticker from the bottom of the screens as the news broke on the network.
Two indictments. Massive probes. “Operation Royal Flush.” “Operation Nothing But Bet.” Well-executed operations that infiltrated pro sports in a manner we’ve not seen at this level in a while.
