“I thought he should have been suspended. … The one thing we can never do in sports is make people think it’s fixed.” Chuck and the fellas discuss Rudy Gobert being fined $100K for directing a ‘money sign’ gesture toward a game official.
Source:
[https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1768509706673299779](https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1768509706673299779)
by Kimber80
44 Comments
I get the sentiment. These issues aren’t going to go away with a suspension though. This type of stuff is only going to be more prevalent the more the league ties itself to gambling.
They wouldn’t say this about 90% of the league. It’s just cause he can’t play offense and looks awkward.
Didn’t Luka do the money sign earlier this season too?
Did everyone forget about Tim Donaghy? It’s plausible
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If you don’t want people to think it’s fixed, maybe not have such shit reffing and promote gambling? But sure let’s blame the players.
There’s already a general sentiment among NBA fans that NBA refereeing has been increasingly questionable in recent years. Like it’s not like Gobert is out there putting this notion into fans’ heads, I think anybody that is regularly watching the NBA right now sees that there’s a refereeing problem.
At the same time, you’ve also got this promotion of sports gambling at an unprecedented level across professional sports media to the point that it feels like they’re just forcing gambling to be a part of general sports discourse, NBA included.
I think these two problems are unrelated, and the issue is just shitty refereeing that can’t seem to consistently enforce the rules the same way on a night-to-night basis or even consistently in a single game, magnified by the fact that there’s no real mechanism in place for the league (teams collectively, not The League) to reprimand poor refereeing or demand higher standards.
So you’ve got this issue of poor and inconsistent refereeing, you’ve got this infiltration of sports gambling into the everyday NBA discourse, and, last of all and perhaps most saliently, you’ve got a past precedent of actual gambling scandals tied to an NBA referee, and you’ve still got close affiliates of that referee in the league today, still acting as referees.
That is a combination that will lead to people questioning the legitimacy of refereeing, whether or not there’s any evidence that actually ties those things (and at this time, I don’t think there’s any evidence).
“I mean everyone with eyes knows it’s fixed, we just can’t remind them it is”
Shaq getting angry is absolutely hilarious considering the refs saved his ass against the Sacrament Kings to solidify his legacy.
Rudy is not the reason people think it’s fixed LOL suspend the real cause. Why do most games look like one side is clotheslining on defense while the other side can’t even touch them.
Chuck and the NBA lost that argument when legal gambling got involved buying ad time during games. Our own pre-game broadcasts have odds and gambling lines as part of their program.
Rare Chuck L. If you think the league or at least refs aren’t* shadily involved with betting then you aren’t paying attention.
Edit: said “are”, meant “aren’t”. Point is, somebody is dirty
He should’ve never been suspended. This is a brain dead take from chuck.
I think it’s totally fine for Rudy to cast doubt on the referees, as they’ve been caught before doing what he was implying, and Stern literally made the FBI investigation impossible by suspending Donaghee before the full investigation on the other refs was done. A lot of the people implicated in that investigation are still in the league as refs or a part of their union.
Sports betting advertising is getting out of control, so you’d assume sports betting is more popular than ever. It’s imperative to maintain a healthy distance from these companies for the league, to keep the perception of fair competition, something they haven’t done.
Was the Lakers vs Kings game fixed in 2002 WCF?
Absolutely! 100% ✅ ✅ ✅
A lot of people reference the leagues ties to legalized gambling without mentioning that the leagues gambling scandal came at a time where gambling was harder to access, less available to the general public, and was not affiliated directly with any of the leagues. The people who want to/can influence these games were doing so already/doing so without the help of these legal books. Now any time there’s a call that doesn’t go the ‘right’ way, everybody’s minds immediately go to gambling and fixed games, rarely giving the refs the benefit of the doubt that they could’ve just simply been wrong.
Chuck, the one thing we can never do in sports is actually fix the games. But Tim Donaghy and Scot Foster already sailed away on that ship
Chuck would have kicked himself out of the league.
i agree but only bc its rudy
If you don’t want people to think it’s fixed, then investigate Scott Foster. And maybe Tony Brothers too
Rudy Gobert making the money sign is not why people think the league is fixed lmao
Hold refs accountable? Na fuck that, suspend players instead.
It’s too obvious to back peddle now.
Doesn’t help that it seems the media was told to be hush hush about the ref was seen visibility frustrated when a player scored and got “investigated” and decided to retire early. But if a player does something it’s front page news.
Let’s not act like he did this to any “game official”. Maybe TNT should run the Scott Foster stats with the Rudy clip, the league might finally notice.
If it’s not fixed then why is Scott Foster still out there reffing? 134 phone calls before and after games from Tim Donaghy. 134?! If you want people to believe refs aren’t putting their thumbs on the scale then get rid of the very obviously corrupt official that somehow manages to be the star of every game he refs.
It’s an Entertainment company like the WWE.
There’s billions of dollars on the line.
But sure .. we believe 😅
I wonder what the NBA would do if star players start calling out gambling as a sin or immoral. Would the NBA fine them for these opinions?
There’s people in the league who think the earth is flat. People believe all sorts of shit. You’ll never convince someone the game isn’t rigged once they’ve already decided it is
I don’t think Rudy should be suspended and I can’t stand him. Maybe the league should instead reevaluate it’s relationship to sports betting.
Suspending him will just excite the tin foil hats even more.
>The one thing we can never do in sports is make people think it’s fixed
That sounds like it would be a top priority of a sports organization that is actually fixed.
Yeah but Rudy Gobert is not the reason I think it’s fixed
Rare Barkley L
“The one thing we can never do in sports is make people think it’s fixed.”
Why isn’t this addressed towards Adam Silver and the referees? It isn’t Rudy’s fault that the perception is there. He shouldn’t have done the hand gesture yada yada yada, but the league wide perception is the issue… not Rudy’s isolated reaction.
Luka has flashed the dollar sign as well, I don’t recall them weeping over his lack of suspension or fine. The NBA slips further and further into pro wrestling levels of legitimate sports competition.
Making the refs call games in a way that does not make it look like it’s fixed might help with that.
If the NBA cared about giving people the impression it’s fixed. Do something about the inconsistency with the way the game is called, or have the pull the lottery balls under the camera. Otherwise, I think it’s totally fair for players to question the integrity of the refs. Ignoring it just adds to the frustration of both the players and fans.
As long as Scott foster is still an nba ref there will always be questions about his intentions. And once he’s finally gone you can’t promote him like fucking monte mccutchin. He needs to be wiped away and never mentioned again.
The nba also needs to stop blindly backing the refs. Players and coaches have every right to criticize them.
Sports betting literally sponsors pro sports and NBA has literally been caught with cheating refs in the past.
Shut the fuck up Charles you literally have a segment where you put in to spout live odds you fucking idiot
I feel like the officiating should indicate to fans that the games aren’t fixed by simply being called fairly? Like, just do your job and there’s no worries. Craps’ Table Chuck should know better
The sad reality is that gambling is endorsed
If making fans think the game is fixed is fine worthy, hand them fines out to the refs
Trust us, Chuck. We don’t need Rudy Gobert to show a “money sign” during a game to make us think these games are fixed. The refs do an excellent job at that already.
Maybe quit advertising betting during the games and having your talking heads bring up betting odds during time-outs. It’s fucking crazy. I feel like I’m not watching basketball anymore but some dystopian version of World Series of Poker.
There is far too much incentive for officials and insiders to be unethical, especially when gambling has become part of the NBA’s brand and PR.