The Golden State Warriors registered a 129-118 victory yesterday night against the Washington Wizards to improve their record to .500. The highlight of the game was Jordan Poole’s return to Chase Center, which was marked by a beautiful tribute to the 2022 NBA Champion by the Dubs. However, a Redditor shared Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, and Gary Payton II’s reaction towards the end, suggesting some gambling might have taken place.
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In a clip recently uploaded on the r/NBA subreddit, the Warriors bench could be seen reacting peculiarly in the dying seconds of the Wizards game. The camera panned to the Dubs bench after play was halted for a foul call with 5.8 seconds remaining on the clock. At that point in the game, the Warriors had a comfortable 12-point lead. However, Redditors noticed that Stephen Curry and Gary Payton II seemed pretty tensed on the Warriors bench.
Steph, CP3 and GP2’s reaction is a little suspicious pic.twitter.com/sCwVnzKXCo
— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) December 23, 2023
Curry had his entire face covered with a towel and was talking to Chris Paul about something. On the other hand, Payton II covered his mouth with his hands and looked almost shocked at what was happening. He was also seen telling Steph something in a dejected manner. The Warriors took home an 11-point win after Ryan Rollins hit a buzzer-beater three to conclude things. GP2’s reaction to the buzzer beater had many Redditors suspicious.
The Warriors bench a little too interested in a 12 point game with 5 seconds to go. (Note the Warriors had a 12.5 points spread for this match)
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A user named ‘Standardweasel’ pointed out that the game had a 12.5-point spread, which means that the points differential in the game had to be 12 points for a play to hit, provided that someone bet on the team to cover the spread. The user seemed suspicious that GP2’s reaction suggested some kind of involvement in a similar wager.
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Other users were also suspicious of the reactions coming from the Dubs bench.
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Is Gambling legal in the NBA?
Even though the NBA’s Constitution doesn’t explicitly ban players from gambling, the NBA strictly prohibits players from betting on NBA games. NBA players, coaches, and staff are not allowed to bet on outcomes of NBA-related events whether or not they are directly involved in them.
The NBA’s Constitution and bylaws provide the Commissioner with the authority to take stringent actions against players involved in any betting, which may include fines, suspensions, and even termination of contracts. However, such instances are not very common in the league.
However, sports betting is a big thing around the league. In fact, teams themselves promote gambling. The Rockets had once tagged Draft Kings in an Over/Under bet about Jalen Green’s 3 pointer attempts before a game.
In a since-deleted tweet from the team’s official Twitter/X account, the Houston Rockets asked whether Jalen Green would attempt more or less than five three-pointers in Saturday’s game, mentioning Draft Kings in the tweet. pic.twitter.com/zbJPqpP2el
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 25, 2023
There’s no way to definitely claim that the players on the Dubs bench had bet on the outcome of the game. However, their heightened reactions in a comfortable win against a 5-23 Wizards team are certainly quite bizarre. There’s no way to conclude definitely without further evidence whether any of the players had wagers on the spread or were just playing around.
Meanwhile, this incident may remind fans of the time when the Houston Rockets posted an over/under poll on X for Jalen Green’s three-point attempts in a game and even tagged DraftKings on the post. The tweet soon got taken down but not before ruffling some feathers on NBA Twitter.
