That "meaningless" last shot at the end of an NBA game is rarely ever meaningless and the players notice it, too. The end of Friday's Warriors vs Wizards game was the latest example. The spread ranged between Warriors -12 to Warriors -10.5 depending on the book and time you bet, while the total ranged from 246 to 250.
The Warriors held a 23-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter and their bench closed out the game against Wizards' bench. At about the 2-minute mark, the Warriors led by 15 and the total sat at 231 points. The next 120 seconds played out like a bettors dream or worst nightmare: 3-point play; 3-point make, layup, layup, 3-point make, free throws (with five seconds left) and 3-pointer to beat the buzzers.
The two teams scored 16 points combined over that stretch and the Wizards outscored the Warriors by four points, which put the spread in jeopardy. If you bet Warriors -11, you pushed. Anything above that and you probably had the same face that Warriors guard Gary Payton II did when the camera panned to him after the buzzer.
That reaction led people to ask: Did GP II have money on the game? Twitter sleuths were quick to point out that Payton, Chris Paul and Stephen Curry were laughing on the bench and clearly discussing the late-game flurry.
So, did Gary Payton have money on this game? We can't know for sure, but it's unlikely. NBA players are not allowed to bet on league games. While that has been an issue for other leagues, like the NFL, NHL and Soccer, the NBA hasn't had a player get caught up in improper wagering. The other reason it's unlikely, sportsbooks would have noticed. The NBA works directly with sportsbooks and state regulatory agencies to monitor bets placed on NBA games and any link to NBA personnel.
There's very little doubt that he noticed the betting implications, though. While NBA players aren't openly discussing betting within their own sports, plenty have talked about their bets on other sports. Knicks guard Josh Hart has taken to Twitter to connect with his followers about his prop bets.
LeBron James, also garnered attention with his Sunday NFL predictions (just his picks to win, not the spread) earlier this season. With legalized sports betting becoming more integrated into games, this won't be the last time someone asks if a player had a bet on a random Friday night game.
