Concerns Mount Over Now Deleted Rockets Gambling Tweet

The official Houston Rockets Twitter account has deleted a tweet that had many scratching their heads and wondering how out of control the sports leagues gambling has become.

From Awful Announcing:

“Jalen Green will attempt 5 threes this game,” the Rockets tweeted ahead of Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets. The tweet was not a statement, but a poll question with two possible answers — “Over” and “Under.” And as if asking a question about an over/under didn’t make it clear enough that it was a reference to gambling, the tweet mentioned Draft Kings.

David E. Berger offered this via the Awful Announcing Twitter page:

"I’m ok w this. But books and leagues need to be prepared for the endless calls of fixing. Especially w the rise of X, a platform where 30% of the total tweets at any give time are people asking for bets to get voided."

And the situation is only bound to get worse with ESPN now getting into the gambling space with their newly launched ESPN Bet app.

Awful Announcing's Michael Dixon points out that the optics are just bad, as opposed to there being something nefarious going on.

It would be a little more justifiable if the over/under was on how many three-pointers Green would make. But how many he’d just attempt is something that can easily be manipulated. Even if there’s nothing shady going on, someone who bet the over/under couldn’t exactly be blamed for thinking otherwise, especially if Green ended up with four, five or six attempts (he ultimately finished with eight).

- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com