The birthday boy should have been talking about life as a now newly-turned 35-year-old or his return to his stomping grounds in Orlando fresh off a 28-point opening night, but instead Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic was caught up in the only story suffocating the NBA these days.
One day after Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player/assistant coach Damon Jones were arrested as part of an investigation related to illegal sports betting and mafia-backed rigged poker games, the rest of the league was speaking out.
Not that there was much of a choice considering the magnitude of the situation the Association is now facing.
“It’s unfortunate to see that happening in our league,” Vucevic said Friday. “Innocent until proven guilty, so I’m not going to go too much into that. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the investigation, but I think in general gambling is a big problem. Not only here, but worldwide. I think now that it’s got into sports here a lot of people are involved in it, a lot of people gamble, and unfortunately a lot of people get stuck in it and it’s hard to get out.
“To go on your phone, all you need to do is download the app. We as players feel it a lot when we step on the court. Nowadays you hear more. Before it used to be, ‘Hey Vooch, get a win!’ Now it’s like, ‘Hey, my parlay is 10 rebounds, I need 10 boards,’ or ‘Hey, my parlay is 15 points.’ You come out of a timeout and you hear people say that. Lot of times you turn and it’s like 14, 15-year-old kids. Honestly it pisses me off because it’s disrespectful to the game.”
A trend that Vucevic brought up last season, and he only sees getting worse.
“We put so much work in, try to do the right thing, put a good product on the court and play the right way,” he continued. “And people focus on if I’m gonna get 10 rebounds or not. It’s very unfortunate. Even back home (Vucevic was raised in Belgium and Montenegro) there are a lot of places, areas where you can gamble on sports, so yeah, it’s a big problem for the world. It’s something the NBA is going to have to look at and try and fix it as much as possible.”
Not that the NBA hasn’t tried. Across all major professional sports, there are annual meetings with the league and players on the dangers of gambling. There are daily reminders with signs in the locker room. The information is given and stressed upon.
“Nowadays you have to be even more careful because you don’t know who will come to you and ask like, ‘Hey, is Coby (White) back (from injury)?’ And you say, ‘No, he’s not,’ not even thinking they’ll use something out of it,” Vucevic said. “You get caught into it. It’s a big problem.”
And a problem that won’t likely be going away anytime soon as far as the investigation was concerned. According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the three former NBA players were included in a mix of 34 people arrested in operations that had been going on for years and involved “tens of millions of dollars.”
So now it’s a waiting game to see how far the investigation lasts and if other names come out of it.
“I was really surprised and saddened by all of it,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan added. “It’s sad that they’re dealing with it personally as human beings and the league is dealing with it as well.”