As part of their anonymous poll of 158 NBA players, the full results of which can be viewed here, Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic got several interesting responses about the league’s gambling partnerships and the impact they’ve had.
Of The Athletic’s poll respondents, 46% felt the partnerships were bad for the NBA, while 34% said they were good — the remaining 20% were either undecided or were somewhere in the middle. The general consensus is that those partnerships have benefited the league financially but have increased the likelihood of players being harassed by fans.
As Amick and Robbins write in a separate story, players around the league also sounded off on February’s shocking Luka Doncic trade, questioning not only the Mavericks‘ decision to deal the perennial All-NBA first-teamer but also the timing of the move.
Some players who spoke to The Athletic acknowledged that the trade wouldn’t have looked quite so bad if not for the injury woes that tanked the Mavericks’ season, while others said it was too early to render final judgment. But the responses Amick and Robbins got strongly suggested that the only players fully on board with the deal were anonymous Lakers, including one respondent who said, “I think it (was a) phenomenal decision. So smart. Wise. I’m a Nico Harrison fan.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- In an entertaining feature for ESPN.com, Michael C. Wright takes a closer look at the rapid rise of twin brothers Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, who have met their goal of making the playoffs for the first time this year, with the Rockets and Pistons, respectively. Now, they’re ready to take that goal one step further. “I want to see him in the Finals,” Amen told Wright. “That would be fire. But just one of us wins. I know who that’s going to be.” Ausar shares his brother’s goal, but disagrees with his prediction about which team would come out on top. “Man, we would whoop ’em,” Ausar said. “This year, when we played, when we had all of our players, we beat them.”
- With the NBA set to announce its Defensive Player of the Year award winner on Thursday evening, Josh Robbins of The Athletic spoke to 13 head coaches and assistants around the league about who deserves the honor. Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and Thunder wing Luguentz Dort were the top vote-getters in Robbins’ poll — Dort isn’t among the three finalists for the award.
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report looks ahead to the offseason and identifies under-the-radar teams that might make sense as destinations for 10 potential trade candidates around the NBA, ranging from stars like Kevin Durant and Trae Young to role players such as Marcus Smart and Daniel Gafford.