Gambling fan Charles Barkley ‘scared’ for player safety after real-time betting dominates NBA games
NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley fears that fans who lose money through gambling could pose a threat to players' safety.
Charles Barkley is worried for NBA players are some received death threats from gambling
The NBA has officially tied up with gambling companies to allow fans to bet on games. This move was done to hit two birds with one stone. One was to curb illegal gambling and the other was to help teams earn more in a world where salaries are constantly increasing. However, NBA legend Charles Barkley has some inhibitions about the move.
The Hall of Famer was a guest on The Phillies Show podcast and spoke about the impact of social media and the internet. Barkley stated that gambling could hurt the players a lot.
One thing that’s hurt the players even more is the gambling aspect. Because I’m hearing now that these guys are getting criticized if they don’t get X amount of points, X amount of rebounds. I some of the NBA player’s saying they are getting death threats. But some of the stuff that I see now is scary to me.
Charles Barkley said
Charles Barkley was clear that while he is not against gambling, he is unhappy with the way fans have been able to approach players through social media to vent their frustrations. He acknowledged that he is a ‘gambling degenerate’ and loves to gamble when the opportunities arise.
However, when fans are gambling on every aspect of the game and do not win, they take out their frustrations on the players, which is unfair. Barkley cited some examples of players receiving death threats for not achieving a certain stat.
With social media making it easy to communicate, the Round Mound of Rebound felt that NBA players were going to bear the brunt of it. He expressed worry that the future might get worse if a fan who lost money is unable to control his/her anger.
After a long history with gambling, Charles Barkley has curbed his addiction
Charles Barkley has openly accepted that he loves to gamble. There are popular stories of him losing millions of dollars in one go. The 61-year-old has made million-dollar bets on certain sporting events and has been candid in revealing that he has lost a lot of money.
The former league MVP revealed recently that he is appreciative of his friends for curbing his addiction. Previously, he would continue to gamble even if he was winning a lot. Nowadays, he prefers to take it easy and stop gambling once he feels he has had enough.
Barkley’s colleagues have tried to warn him about gambling from time to time. He, however, finds it interesting to hit the tables once in a while as it is the only habit where he is ready to lose money. Otherwise, he prefers the simpler things in life.
Joseph Varghese
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