As someone who performed in the NBA for 19 years and has coached ever since retiring, Jason Kidd knows it’s a “beautiful game” at its greatest.
And the Mavericks’ head coach doesn’t need the latest playing scandals — which concerned Heat guard Terry Rozier, Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former player Damon Jones getting arrested over alleged roles in unlawful sports activities betting and poker schemes — to take away from some of the particular person performances around the league to begin the season.
“What I will say is we have a beautiful game with a lot of talented players in this league,” Kidd instructed reporters Friday while declining to particularly remark on the scandal, according to the Dallas Morning News. “The begin of the season, we’ve had an MVP (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) rating 55 factors. We got to see up-close Victo (Webanyama) rating 40 factors. Hopefully that doesn’t overshadow what these younger males are doing because it’s a lovely recreation.
Jason Kidd is pictured during the Mavericks’ Oct. 24 recreation against the Wizards. Imagn Images
“They’re playing the game at a high level, and it’s fun to be a part of. Hopefully they can get that fixed.”
Kidd was referencing Thunder famous person Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 55-point eruption against the Pacers on Thursday and Spurs famous person Victor Wembanyama’s 40-point evening in a season-opening win against the Mavericks.
Follow The Post’s newest on the playing scandal rocking the NBA:
Chauncey Billups leaves the courthouse following an Oct. 23 listening to. REUTERS
But in between these video games, an ugly scandal overshadowed anything that transpired on the courtroom during the first week of the season — with a complete of 34 individuals arrested following the pair of investigations, including the three with ties to the NBA, into schemes with alleged ties to the Mafia.
Billups and Rozier were both put on go away by the NBA, with Billups allegedly serving as a “face card” in the rigged high-stakes poker video games and Rozier allegedly offering insider info used in the unlawful betting scheme.
Follow The Post’s reside updates on the bombshell NBA, Mafia playing scandal
Jim Trusty, Rozier’s lawyer, accused the FBI of wanting “the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk,” while Chris Heywood, Billups’ lawyer, described his consumer as a “man of integrity” who “would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.”
But it positioned the difficult relationship between the skilled sports activities leagues and its relationship with on-line sports activities playing back into the highlight.
The FBI has arrested 31 individuals concerned in a rigged poker recreation ring backed by the New York City organized crime households.
Terry Rozier makes an attempt a shot for the Heat during a March 2025 recreation. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“The league does an incredible job of talking about that,” Kidd instructed reporters when requested about the heightened stress gamers face from followers in the on-line sports activities betting period. “There’s a lot of literature that goes out. The league has done a great job of teaching and showing and now we have real-life examples. We’ll learn from this and be better.”
Kidd addressed the scandal before the Mavericks’ 117-107 loss to the Wizards on Friday, which dropped them to 0-2 to begin the season.
Source hyperlink
