When Gilbert Arenas was playing in the NBA, the guard wound up unknowingly costing New York rapper Ja Rule and music executive Irv Gotti $175,000.

While sports betting has become wildly popular in the US, with the NBA and other leagues running ads and featuring betting odds, during Arenas’ career, it was less common.

During a recent episode of Gil’s Arena this week, the NBA vet spoke about the situation after rappers Cam’ron and Mase discussed it on their show earlier in the week. As Gilbert Arenas explained, Ja Rule and Irv Gotti once had $175,000 on a game in which he was playing.

The two had money on the spread, with their bets considered in the money. As time was winding down, Arenas and the Rockets were up comfortably on the scoreboard.

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However, Gilbert Arenas, now knowing that Ja Rule and Irv Gotti had money on the game, decided that with the clock winding down, he would launch a halfcourt shot. When the shot went in, he ended up costing the pair $175,000, when their bet on the spread wound up out of the money thanks to Arenas’ late-game three.

As he recalled:

“Look, I don’t know nothing about sports betting back then. Therefore, I didn’t care what the time was nor what the score was. I was shooting that s**t, right?
“And I remember, like he said, ‘Don’t shoot the ball’ or ‘You not gonna shoot it.’ And it was, winding down, three… two… I shot that bitch. … Irv Gotti. He had the money on the game. … I shot three easy money.”
More than a decade after Gilbert Arenas’ retirement, NBA players speak out against sports betting
While Gilbert Arenas wasn’t aware of the high stakes of his garbage-time 3-pointer late game that cost Ja Rule and Irv Gotti $175,000, players today are well aware of bets. With the legalization of sports betting across the US, more and more fans are getting in on the action.

In addition, before games, betting odds and player props are often discussed during pre-game coverage. Because of that, NBA players have noticed an uptick in fan harassment.

When a player fails to reach the over, or comes up short of another prop, fans have begun to make brash comments and hurl insults at the NBA’s best. Because of this, players have begun to speak out against sports betting while discussing the ways that it has impacted the game.

Last season, while speaking to media, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who won an Olympic gold with Team USA recently, spoke about the impact sports betting is having:

“Not everybody cares to hear how we feel. To half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever. I’m a prop. That’s what my social media mostly consists of. I think it’s important for us to have somebody to talk to.”
Haliburton, of course, isn’t the only player to weigh in on the situation. Other NBA stars, such as DeMar DeRozan, PJ Tucker and Ochai Agbaji, have revealed that fan harassment is up since the legalization of sports betting.

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