It’s a new day in America. That’s right — sports betting is becoming more legal by the day. A once very niche activity is becoming a very accessible part of culture. Of course with the progress of apps that exist like FanDuel or DraftKings, there are growing pains. Sports like football and baseball have always been synonymous with sports betting, but with states legalizing it more, betting on the NBA is at an all-time high.
We’ve always been used to hearing about the “Vegas odds.” I mean, that place has damn near no rules, right? And for much of contemporary history, that’s what made Vegas appealing. It was the legal betting, and other fun, legalized scandalous activities. Nowadays, more states want in on legal and taxable activities. Since the states see such value in that, we’ve seen an increase in legal betting in many U.S. states. The number currently sits at 38. And with this quickly becoming such a thing, you can bet that sports fans have a whole new reason to be invested in games.
Because of social media, we have become accustomed to everyone having a voice. We have gotten used to fans talking smack to athletes online. Heck, I’ve sent a Draymond admonishment a time or two myself. However, the rise in sports betting has raised some fans’ affinity for taking things too far. There is a sense of entitlement that some fans operate within, and some of these athletes are not the ones, or the twos to play with. One of the most notable players that we can think of in this respect is Kevin Durant.
Outside of the supreme trolling skills of Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant very seldom holds his tongue online. He meets fans’ criticisms at its zenith, and on many occasions, makes them eat their words. Now it’s plausible for fans to have critiques of one player’s games. But some take it too far. They take it to a point where I believe they see our athletes less as people, and more as commodities for our benefit.
Kevin Durant will NEVER care about your parlay
pic.twitter.com/laktdDfkDQ
— GoldBoys.com (@GoldBoysSupport) November 11, 2024
I can relate to that to some degree because I play fantasy basketball with friends from college. And I very regularly get pissed when a player may not be in a lineup randomly because of injury. However, I know that my tagging player with my gripes is a little too personal. It lacks tact. And for all that we know, that player is dealing with coming to terms with something that we may not have all the details on.
At the crux of all of this, to me is the word grace. In as much as there is an increase of fans engaged with the NBA through betting, we can’t lose the general respect that we should have for people. Judging from a lot of the happenings in our country currently, I can see how that desire is wishful thinking. Thinking of real respect for all is a tough concept, especially when considering, that everyone won’t extend the same grace. However, in this specific world, in this specific lane, I believe we can extend that grace in sports. It may take a while, but once sports betting becomes commonplace, I hope our attitudes ease in similar fashion.
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