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SALT LAKE CITY — Will Hardy has grown used to the suggestions from the crowd.
As he roams the sideline, he hears that he should keep this player in longer, or that he should run a play for a certain player, or how he should handle end-of-game situations. Those fans aren't trying to help win a game; they are looking for help winning a bet.
"Since I got this job, I've had at least one person yell something from the crowd every single night at me about a particular player, or the spread, or points, rebounds, minutes, not fouling at the end of the game, fouling at the end of the game based on the over/under," Hardy said.
Sports betting has become more and more prominent in NBA circles. That much was clear on Monday when ESPN reported the NBA is investigating Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter following multiple instances of betting irregularities.
Toronto games on Jan. 26 and March 20, specifically, are under investigation. On both of those nights, Porter's prop bets were the top moneymaking bets on DraftKings. The big winners were on Porter's unders — wagering he'd score fewer points, record fewer assists and grab fewer rebounds than the numbers the oddsmakers set.
The amount of money being put on a two-way player's 3-point makes is fishy enough before you throw in that he ended up leaving both games early — one for an aggravated eye injury, and the other due to an illness. Even the most wide-eyed person would have a hard time chalking that up to coincidence.
Stemming from a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, the legalization of sports gambling has spread across the country. In Utah, you can't wager on the results of games, but if you think Lauri Markkanen or John Collins are going to score over a certain amount on Wednesday, go right ahead and place your bets — eh, we mean place your entries (it's a game, not a bet — or something like that.)
In any case, the players have certainly noticed an uptick in comments surrounding gambling.
"Honestly, this year I've heard more people talking about bets than I've ever heard," Collins said. "If it's an adult like eight or nine times out of 10 they're telling me like, 'Hey Collins, good game, you won me some money last night!'"
He said that before games fans sometimes yell at him to let him know to "get 10 boards tonight" because they had money on him.
Sites like PrizePicks and DraftKings have sponsorships with the major networks, prominent podcasts, and, in DraftKings' case, even the league itself. Those advertising dollars appear to be working.
"I've never seen it run this much," Collins said. "Everybody's podcast, TV, YouTube — everybody has betting on their on their site. So I mean I guess people are going to bet."
Hardy said it's easy to dismiss the nightly calls from the bettors in the crowd as having some dumb fun. But, as Cleveland coach JB Bickerstaff has learned, that's not always the case.
Last week, Bickerstaff said gamblers have contacted him and even made some veiled threats.
"They got my telephone number and were sending me crazy messages about where I live and my kids and all that stuff," Bickerstaff said. "So it is a dangerous game and a fine line that we're walking for sure."
He went on to say that gambling has brought added pressure and an extra distraction to the game "that can be difficult for players, coaches, referees, everybody that's involved in it. And I think that we really have to be careful with how close we let it get to the game and the security of the people who are involved in it."
Early this month former Jazz center Rudy Gobert was fined $100,000 for implying that gambling was influencing officiating. After Gobert was called for a technical foul in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, he rubbed his fingers together in a "money sign" gesture toward referee Scott Foster.
He admitted it was an "immature reaction," but that gambling was "hurting the game."
Was Gobert on to something? Is the Porter investigation a tip-of-the-iceberg moment? How much was Porter involved? And are more players doing the same thing? Those are questions the league will have to answer.
