1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: The night. Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: director of talk show host Michael Brown. Brownie, no, Brownie, 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: You're doing a heck of a job the Weekend with 4 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:12,120 Speaker 1: Michael Brown broadcasting life from Denver, Colorado. You've tuned into 5 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: the Weekend with Michael Brown. Glad to have you with 6 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: the program today. A couple of rules of engagement. If 7 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: you must send me a text message, that's the way 8 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: to tell me something or ask me anything. TMA tell 9 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: me anything or AMA, ask me anything. On your message 10 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: out The number is three three one zero three three 11 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: three one zero three. Keyword is Mike or Michael. And 12 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 1: then go follow me on X at Michael Brown USA 13 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: at Michael Brown USA. Now, before you start clicking and 14 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: changing the channel, particularly those who live in Colorado or 15 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: you listen to Friday's program, we're gonna take a little 16 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: different tack today, but we are going to talk about 17 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: the betting scandal. Yeah, it's not too bad. I heard 18 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: a couple of clicks, but not too many, because I 19 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: think this is a great get horrible reflect non American culture. 20 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: And it's also how we you know, between artificial intelligence, 21 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: between fake news, between everything that we deal with in 22 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: social media, between CGI and movies, between everything you can 23 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: possibly imagine. We live in a world where we don't 24 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: know what's real and what's not real. For example, do 25 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: you really think I'm live today? Do you really think 26 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: I haven't pre recorded this and I'm out, you know, 27 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: gallivanting around somewhere. You never know. Now I am live today. 28 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 1: So there's that. But I really think that in many 29 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: ways we should not be shocked by this scandal, and 30 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: we shouldn't be surprised either when someone like Stephen A. 31 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: Smith comes out and says that this massive NBA gambling 32 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: bust is Trump's revenge. Oh good, so now we got 33 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: Donald Trump involved in it. Everything that goes wrong in 34 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: the world is apparently Donald Trump's fault, and everything they 35 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: go goes right in the world. However you measure that, 36 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: I guess because I'm not really sure anymore how you 37 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: measure right from wrong? Actually I am, But why is 38 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,079 Speaker 1: it that somehow you got to draw Donald Trump into this. 39 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: It's fascinating to me, and I'm going to make it 40 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,239 Speaker 1: fascinating to you because I really want you to stop 41 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: and think about this for a moment. So the October 42 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: shock for the NBA began like any any sort of 43 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: courtroom scene you might see. Here are federal agents, and 44 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: these federal agents, you know, are you know, they're all 45 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,079 Speaker 1: walking to the microphone. They got the FBI flag, and 46 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: they've got you know, maybe a New York state flag. 47 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: They got the US flag, and they got you know, 48 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: everything behind them, and they're and they're all lined up 49 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: because everybody wants to be in the camera shop. And 50 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: so they announced these coordinated arrests a head coach, an 51 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: active player among nearly three dozen defendants. And the allegations 52 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: that kind of intertwine two strands of string of vice 53 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: into one rope. Illegal sports betting that traded on insider information, 54 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: and high stakes poker games rigged for guaranteed loss. Now 55 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: let's go to the trading on insider information for just 56 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,959 Speaker 1: a second, because I want to add a parenthetical here 57 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: and then this will help you understand why I think 58 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: this is important. Everyone is fast, I shouldn't say everyone. 59 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: A lot of people are fascinated by this, And if 60 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: you're an NBA sports fan, you're either not surprised or 61 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: you're shocked. Now I'm not really an NBA fan. I 62 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: kind of like college basketball better than I do the 63 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: National Basketball Association. But besides, that doesn't make any difference. 64 00:03:54,640 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: When I say they traded on insider information. Does that 65 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: remind you of anything else? Does it? We have a 66 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: Virginia governor's race, for example, where a former member of 67 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: Congress now running to be the Democrat governor of Virginia 68 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: earned seven million dollars yets reported on her financial statements, 69 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,839 Speaker 1: and her opponent, winso Sears, who's the current lieutenant governor, 70 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: a black female, is asking this white woman as now 71 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: have many people in the cabal where the seven million 72 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: dollars come from? And she can't answer, She won't answer, 73 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: she can't answer both. Now we have Nancy Pelosi and 74 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: her husband. Of course she claims that, oh, I don't 75 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: have anything to do with those decisions. You don't think 76 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: there's pillow talk going between Nancy Pelosi and her husband 77 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: about you know, hey, you know there's this big piece 78 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: of legislation coming up, and it's going to affect x 79 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: y Z Corporation because we're either going to take away 80 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: their contracts or we're going to do something in XYZ 81 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 1: Corporation is going to be in the perfect place to 82 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: do this, and so her husband Paul. He says, hmmm, 83 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: maybe I should go buy some shares of stocking x 84 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: y Z Corporation and low and bowls. He does, and 85 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 1: he buys it at a dollar share, and then I 86 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: don't know, six months later, the legislation gets passed. Then 87 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: suddenly XYZ Corporation places a bid on to do whatever 88 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: that bit that legislation provided for, and suddenly his a 89 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,799 Speaker 1: dollar share has now gone to ten dollars a share. 90 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:31,159 Speaker 1: Insider trading. There's corruption everywhere, absolutely everywhere. But why is 91 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: it that people are in, Oh, my god, the NBA. 92 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: But there's a governor, there's a candidate running for governor 93 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: of Virginia, and oh, you can't explain seven million dollars. Now, 94 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe maybe you're different than me, But 95 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: if seven million dollars showed up in my checking account 96 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: or my brokerage account tomorrow, I would be like it 97 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: was a good day. No, of course I wouldn't. I 98 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: would be like, where the hell did that come from? 99 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:06,839 Speaker 1: I would know precisely where seven million dollars came from. 100 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: And if you can't account for seven million dollars or 101 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 1: you're not shocked by the NBA trading, uh, insider trading 102 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: em vetting scandal. Then I don't think you're really understanding 103 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: that this is really another example of the denegration of 104 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: our culture. Now, the names make headlines because those names 105 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:30,840 Speaker 1: violate a social contract. Just bear with me here, a 106 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 1: true social contract. A coach entrusted to compete and to 107 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: keep team confidences. Players entrusted to play hard and fairly 108 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: so that when you turn on the you know, ESPN 109 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: or wherever you're watching a game. And right now we 110 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: you know, who knows, we've already had a baseball scandal. 111 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: I know none of us lived through that where you 112 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: know that was too long ago, but well, I guess not. 113 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: We had Pete Rose before that, we had the big scandal. 114 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: All these names make headlines because they violate that social contract. 115 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: And when that social contract is that when you're watching 116 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: a game, you expect it to be based upon competition. 117 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: Let's take it to the transgenderism issue. When you're watching 118 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: what you think is women's soccer or women's swim team 119 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: or women's whatever, you tend to think that, oh, the 120 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: people that are out there that I see playing on 121 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: the field or swimming in the lanes, or playing on 122 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: the court, whatever it is that well that they have 123 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: that they're female, that they're biological females, but now you 124 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: don't know whether they are or not. And many of 125 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: them get and I believe, I believe this since very sincerely, 126 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: that if you are a transgender woman, you're transitioning from 127 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: a man to a woman, you have a physiological and 128 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: a biological advantage over the females that are generally female 129 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: that are competing in that same sport. So it's almost 130 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: like nothing is real anymore. And another reason is these 131 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: indictments matter because they expose an institutional vulnerability, and not 132 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: a single one off. This isn't just like, oh, we 133 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: just happen to catch some guys, you know, doing some 134 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: insider dealing and you know, throwing some games or cheating 135 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: at poker or whatever. No, this is an institutional vulnerability. 136 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty five, the National Basketball Association sits at 137 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: the very epicenter of this gambling ecosystem that has developed 138 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,839 Speaker 1: that you see all the time in you see it 139 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: on television for all the different sports betting books, sports 140 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: betting apps, and you hear it on radio incessantly. So 141 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: the NBA is at the very center of that and 142 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: then you've got on one side something and on the 143 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: other side you got something else. What is that? That's 144 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: coming up? Next is the Weekend with Michael Brown. Texts 145 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: any question or comment to three three one zero three, 146 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,439 Speaker 1: keyword Micha or Michael. Follow me on next at Michael 147 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: Brown USA. I'll be right back. Hey's the Weekend with 148 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: Michael Brown. Excuse me, I'm trying to make a bet here. 149 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: I'm betting. I'm betting him whether or not I make 150 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,599 Speaker 1: it through the rest of the program or not. Stephen A. 151 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: Smith somehow is convinced that this is Trump's revenge. I'm 152 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: not quite sure. 153 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 2: That anybody that has been around him, anybody that has 154 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 2: talked to him, anybody that has seen his reactions from 155 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 2: the sports leagues and the positions that people have taken, 156 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 2: they are not surprised at what's going on today. I'm 157 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,839 Speaker 2: watching a press conference with the director of the FBI. 158 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 3: Tell me when we've seen that, we've seen people, we've 159 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 3: seen accusations before, We've seen athletes get in trouble with 160 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 3: the law before. You don't see the director of the 161 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 3: FBI having a. 162 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:21,839 Speaker 1: Well, mister Smith, I hate to tell you, but when 163 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,959 Speaker 1: you've got the mafia. When you have the mob involved, 164 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: I would be shocked if I didn't see the director 165 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: of the FBI. Man, you really are some kind of 166 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: dumbass press conference. It's not coincidental, it's not an accident. 167 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,680 Speaker 1: It's a statement, and it's a warning that Moore is coming. Okay, 168 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: So what are we now living in a society where 169 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: we're upset if Trump or the FBI prosecutes you know, 170 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: a sacred cow like the NBA, that somehow that's Trump's 171 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: fault or that's Trump's revenge. I just I don't get it. 172 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: I really don't get it. The US Attorney for the 173 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 1: Eastern District of New York, My message to the defendants 174 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:12,439 Speaker 1: who've been rounded up today is this, your winning streak 175 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: has ended. Your luck has run out. Violating the law 176 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: is a losing proposition. And you can bet on that. 177 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: That was pretty ironic, wasn't it. And you can bet 178 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: on that. Ah, So what's going on here? Let's do 179 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: the two sides thing. So on one side, the NBA's 180 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: competitive structure makes really subtle manipulation extraordinarily easy. Then on 181 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,679 Speaker 1: the other side, all these mobile sports books and apps 182 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: led by things you groups like draft kings or fan duel. 183 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:58,599 Speaker 1: They have multiplied markets into thousands of prop bets that 184 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: price every rebound, uc rade, first quarter shot attempts, who's 185 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: the first to fart, who's the first to do this? 186 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: You can bet on anything. So where structure and markets meet, 187 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: it's very simple economics. In cynthieves get even sharper. So 188 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: these recent arrests they didn't create that intersection. They revealed that. 189 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: So first thing about the facts that framed the argument. 190 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: Authorities say that Miami heat guard Terry Roseier year old, 191 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: a thirty year old veteran who's in his I think 192 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:42,839 Speaker 1: it's his ninth season. He's not. Again, I dig this 193 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: stuff up because I really don't know these people. He's 194 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 1: known for speed and scoring streaks since he entered the 195 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: league in twenty fifteen. He was a first round pick 196 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: by Boston, signaled that he would play limited minutes in 197 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: a March game, then did exactly that, logging roughly a 198 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 1: third of his typical floor time and falling well below 199 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: recent averages. Now, the result was not a throne game 200 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:15,319 Speaker 1: his team won. The result was a cascade of casable 201 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: wagers on unders for points, assists, and minutes played along 202 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: with correlated props that hinge on usage. So the indictment 203 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: attributes more than two hundred thousand dollars in winning bets 204 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: to the tip and the underperformance. That's the subtle nature 205 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: of what's going on here. Now we'll get to minute 206 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: how much heat benefits from that. Then, when you have 207 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,840 Speaker 1: a multi million dollar contract and you do this and 208 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: you're winning, you know, a couple hundred thousand dollars or something, 209 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 1: it really shows that you live in a bubble where 210 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 1: you don't believe there are any consequences for your actions. 211 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: In fact, I would extract lay that out most of 212 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:05,319 Speaker 1: American society because we look at our leaders and there's 213 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 1: no accountability. Go back to the seven million dollars of 214 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: the governor running for the canon to running for governor 215 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: of Virginia. Go back to Nancy and Paul Pelosi. Go 216 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: back to anybody who went to Congress as just a 217 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: working staff and comes out a multimillionaire on one hundred 218 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: and eighty four thousand dollars a year salary. How does 219 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: that happen? I mean, at that rate right now, I 220 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: have to be worth I don't know a billion dollars, 221 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: but I'm not Now, in parallel to what I just described, 222 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 1: prosecutors allege that Portland Trailblazers head coach Chauncey Billups looks 223 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: around oh, a graduate of right here in Denver High School, 224 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: here in Denver. He's forty eight years old, a former 225 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: Finals MVP, five time All Star, retired I think about 226 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: ten years ago, played for seventeen some years. He took 227 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 1: over Portland's mention twenty twenty one, took part in rigged 228 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: Polker Rock operations, supplied confidential team information that sharpened those 229 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: betting edges at all the former players and organized crime intermediaries, 230 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: and the picture stops looking like some sort of prank 231 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: and it really looks like market abuse now. The league 232 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: responded by removing Billups from Roseer from team activities, by 233 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: emphasizing the primacy of competitive integrity. Really, where were you? 234 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: Where you know? Where's the commission? Ben? M where's that 235 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: weird looking commission? Ben? And by hinting that lifetime bands 236 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 1: remain available if the allegations are proven, which I find 237 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: interesting because well are we Are we going to see 238 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: that somebody? Somebody said to me earlier that Pete Rose 239 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: versus Chauncey Billups and the hall of same status. Will 240 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: the behavior be judged equally? I think that's a great question. 241 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: Will it be judged equally? I don't know. Oh yeah, 242 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: By the way, I keep saying, Virginia's the new Jersey candidate, 243 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: I'm sorry. I think the better question about competitive integrity 244 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: lifetime bans all of that. I think the better question 245 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: is whether this is a symptom of a system designed 246 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,440 Speaker 1: to reward exactly the kind of behavior that we're now seeing. 247 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 1: And I think that's why this scandal is so important. 248 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: I at one time I had a sponsor on my 249 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: local show, and I don't remember. I don't even remember 250 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: which of the betting sports books that it was, but 251 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: I just remember thinking at the time, and I dropped them. 252 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: I went to my folks and just said, you know what, 253 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: I just this is not my thing. I don't use 254 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: the I don't like it. I drop it. I don't 255 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:07,400 Speaker 1: want to endorse them anymore. But why is basketball and 256 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: the NBA in particular so fragile under gambling pressure? I 257 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,879 Speaker 1: think it's basic math. Five players share the floor for 258 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: each team at any given time. Rotation depth rarely exceeds 259 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: eight to ten. Men who matter a single player accounts 260 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 1: for almost twenty percent of the on court personnel and 261 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: often a much larger larger slice of the actual shot 262 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: attempts or on ball time. Small numbers. Anytime you got 263 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: small numbers, that magnifies influence. If a high useage guard 264 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: decides to shoot two fewer times per quarter, if a 265 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: coach quietly caps minutes, the point spread and multiple player 266 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: props begin to move again. Basic math. This system makes 267 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: it even more beneficial and profitable. So Weekend with Michael Brown, 268 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: let me explain how it contrasts with football. Coming up 269 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:12,920 Speaker 1: next tonight, Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA 270 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: director of talk show host Michael Brown. 271 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 3: Brownie, no, Brownie, You're doing a heck of a job 272 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 3: the Weekend with Michael Brown. 273 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: Hey, so we came with Michael Brown. Glad to have 274 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: you with me. Appreciate you tuning in. You know the 275 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: text lines always open three three one zero three keyword 276 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: Mike or Michael. Go follow me on X at Michael 277 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:36,120 Speaker 1: Brown USA. So you have the compactness, You've got five 278 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: players and then a few of those dominate. But then 279 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:45,359 Speaker 1: think about the refereeing of an NBA game. Three officials 280 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:49,920 Speaker 1: that can control the pace, contact, the whistles, leverage over 281 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: free throws, and foul trouble, so their judgment dominates the game. 282 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: So if you have a series of marginal block calls 283 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,199 Speaker 1: or swallowed whistles and drives that can swing tuntals and 284 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:06,119 Speaker 1: spreads by very small but repeatable increments, and it doesn't 285 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:12,400 Speaker 1: look like anything unusual is happening. And this isn't new. 286 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: The infamous referee scandal from at least generation to go 287 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:22,639 Speaker 1: centered on former NBA official Tim Donnehy, who bet on 288 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: games he officiated between two thousand and five and two 289 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: thousand and seven While he was doing his manipulated foul 290 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 1: calls and the pace to influence the point spreads. That 291 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: should teach a simple lesson. In a high frequency scoring environment, 292 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: even mild officiating bias can be monetized, and that's exactly 293 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 1: what these sports books do now. Monitoring has obviously improved 294 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: since his conviction for conspiracy and wirefraud, but human judgment 295 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,400 Speaker 1: is not a bug in basketball. It's actually a feature, 296 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 1: and that feature is exploded foible when money looks for scenes. 297 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:08,160 Speaker 1: Scoring frequency compounds the problem. An NBA game features two 298 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: hundred plus combined points on average dozens of made shots 299 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: and a near continuous exchange of possessions. So that kind 300 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:19,959 Speaker 1: of volume, that level of volume provides statistical cover. If 301 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,399 Speaker 1: a player misses two free throws or gives up a 302 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 1: week close out that yields a corner three, those events 303 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:32,400 Speaker 1: disappear into a sea of ordinary plays. High frequency processes, 304 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: which is what you think about, just visualizing your mind 305 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,120 Speaker 1: for a moment, a college or profession that has many 306 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: difference imagine the frequency of all the processes going on 307 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:50,360 Speaker 1: in that game. High frequency processes let very small distortions 308 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: move outcomes in the overall aggregate. Now let's go to 309 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: football for a second. Because in football, a single absurd penalty, 310 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: to say, erases a touchdown lights up the screen and 311 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 1: the microphone of every single commentator. In basketball, the effect 312 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: is negligible, if even noticeable. Those are structural features. Those 313 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: are absolute structural features. Now, when a player can cash 314 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: an under by sitting an extra four minutes, or by 315 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: deferring two passes that he would otherwise ordinarily make, or 316 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: by closing out half a step later on the defensive glass, 317 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 1: the threshold to manipulate and for people to understand that, oh, 318 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 1: we know this is going to happen, or we're watching 319 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: a pattern. I mean, this really is Think about I 320 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: owned a startup company one time that did pattern recognition, 321 00:21:55,760 --> 00:22:00,680 Speaker 1: and I think about now that I watch this unfolding, Wow, 322 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: I could take that software apply it to basketball games 323 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: and start detecting these kinds of patterns. And if there 324 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: were a way to use that software to detect those 325 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: patterns in real time as bets are being made, which 326 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: you can apparently do with these books, Wow, you really 327 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: could use that pattern recognition to start cashing in on it. 328 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: And if the patterns are being implemented on purpose or 329 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:39,719 Speaker 1: being distorted on purpose, either way, again you've got a 330 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: great way that you can monetize it. Now there is 331 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: a rejoinder. There's absolutely a rejoinder that legal betting also 332 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: increases the monitoring. And the more I thought about that 333 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: since yesterday and started going onto different platforms and asking 334 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: the questions and looking around and reading some of the 335 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 1: other stories about this, that's right, but only to a point. 336 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:13,679 Speaker 1: Integrity firm scan betting markets for aberrational patterns, and leagues 337 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,880 Speaker 1: share data flags and they train their players on these prohibitions. 338 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,679 Speaker 1: But all of the surveillance, all of this data surveillance 339 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: in the pattern recognition that all operates downstream, that all 340 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:33,199 Speaker 1: operates pretty much after the fact. So a spike in 341 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: under bets on a backup center's rebounds might flag a problem, 342 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 1: but only after the fact. So the monitoring that the 343 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,359 Speaker 1: NBA wants to rejoinder with and say well, this is 344 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: what we're doing doesn't really eliminate the opportunity. It prices it. 345 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: It puts a price on it, and then chases it. 346 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: So a rational cheater responds by moving volume across different books, 347 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: by choosing quieter games or markets, and then by slice 348 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:03,920 Speaker 1: NBAHS thin enough to evade these modelings. The move from 349 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 1: win lost wagers to prop saturated menus, which is, you know, 350 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: it took me forever to fully understand all the different 351 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: kinds of prop bets that you can make, and that's 352 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:21,480 Speaker 1: what these books are saturated with. That alters the detection landscape, 353 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: get more places to hide, and these recent criminal cases 354 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: really ought to be read alongside a prior disciplinary benchmark. 355 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: The lifetime ban of a reserved big man in twenty 356 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: twenty four for sharing health information and manipulating his own 357 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: minutes to help associate to help associates profit. That case 358 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: already showed how little it takes to win prop bets 359 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 1: when one participant controls uses a effort. Now, these twenty 360 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: twenty five indictments they scale the problem upward by adding 361 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 1: in a head coach and by tying the scheme to 362 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,399 Speaker 1: organized crime infrastructure, with the bankroll, the accounts, and the 363 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 1: muscle to exploit all these fine edges repeatedly. If one 364 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: single player's minutes could turn a few hundred thousand dollars, 365 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: think about what a well financed ring operating across a 366 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: lot of games and a lot of markets can move 367 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: many multiples of that. So I think the most unsettling 368 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 1: feature is not necessarily the celebrity or the names involved. 369 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: It is the system, And it is the ability of 370 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: the system to create repeatability, to create patterns, and that 371 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 1: then those in the know can exploit those patterns. And 372 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: because all of the data is looked at downstream, one 373 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,640 Speaker 1: and done, two and done, free and done, and you've 374 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 1: already cashed out and moved on. So the architecture of 375 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: risk is clear. This game grants the insiders a disproportionate leverage. 376 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: Mobile betting apps reward the granular insider shaped knowledge, and 377 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 1: then you put those together you form kind of a 378 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:20,679 Speaker 1: market structure with classic adverse selection. Books are writing prices 379 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:23,640 Speaker 1: against the public, but the public can't observe in real time. 380 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:25,959 Speaker 1: We you know whether a guard woke up with a 381 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: sore hamstring, whether a coach intends to cap minutes on 382 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: the second night of a back to back, or whether 383 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:34,159 Speaker 1: a wing is decided to avoid the paint to reduce 384 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:39,000 Speaker 1: the contact. But the team knows, the player knows, even 385 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: friends might know. And then if that information leaks, even indirectly, 386 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: the market tilts. So if the player the coach acts 387 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,920 Speaker 1: on that, the market collapses into a tax that's basically 388 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: on the uninformed. In what role you have to ask? 389 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,360 Speaker 1: Do the book at the betting app apps? What did 390 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: they play? Well? They popularized the product and they created 391 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: the interface, and so they actually probably deserve some credit 392 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,880 Speaker 1: for bringing wagering into the open where the audits now exist. 393 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,399 Speaker 1: But then they also normalized the high resolution pricing of 394 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:26,960 Speaker 1: human behavior. The elegance of a slider for rebounds, the 395 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: thrill of a live in game over under for a 396 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:37,360 Speaker 1: bench unit. Those features gamify micro outcomes, and then when 397 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: you have hundreds of lines exist upon which you can 398 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: bet everyone with modest limits, a ring can spread risk 399 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: and they can hide their intent. And when the dominant 400 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,680 Speaker 1: apps mark the same game parlays that stitch multiple props 401 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: into a single narrative, the demand for small edges grows. 402 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: The familiar defense is that these comes work with leagues 403 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,119 Speaker 1: to spot these anomalies, to spot these patterns, and that 404 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,399 Speaker 1: they limit batters and void markets where they find the 405 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,840 Speaker 1: irregularities and they are detected. And those are prudent steps, 406 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:20,919 Speaker 1: but they're not structural fixes. They're not structural remedies. What 407 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:28,160 Speaker 1: follows for policy and what happens next. I think that 408 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 1: fans deserve realism. I know legal betting is here, and 409 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:36,639 Speaker 1: while I think that betting, you know, Look, do I 410 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: gamble occasionally, Yes, but I'm not very good at poker. 411 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: It's usually just for fun. If I go to Vegas site, 412 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: I may play a little poker, I may play a 413 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: little roulette, I may play the slots a little bit. 414 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: But I know my limits. But we live in a 415 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: society where many people, including million multi millionaires, who play 416 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: these games don't know their limits, and they think they're 417 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: beyond any sort of accountability. This is a horrific indictment 418 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: of our culture. It's the Weekend with Michael Brown. Stay tuned. 419 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: I'll be right back. Hey, Welcome back to the Weekend 420 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 1: with Michael Brown. If nothing else in this hour, you've 421 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: heard me talk about things that I've really never thought 422 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: much about and that I had to do a lot 423 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,640 Speaker 1: of research that tried to dig in and truly understand 424 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: what was going on here to try to convey to 425 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: you some idea that you're not getting what you deserve. 426 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,520 Speaker 1: And I'm not going to sit here and indict football 427 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: or baseball, or golf or tennis or any anything else, 428 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: because right now, all we had before us is the 429 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 1: National Basketball Association. And what we have before us that 430 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: I don't think is going to go away, and I'm 431 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,320 Speaker 1: not even asking for it to go away. And that's 432 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: legal betting. But here's the difference. The NBA kind of 433 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: leaned into this legal betting. They started cutting deals to 434 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: get official data feeds. They leaned on engagement gains that 435 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: come when a casual viewer has a ten dollars parlay, 436 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 1: say on a Tuesday nine in February, just to be random. 437 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 1: Markets bring money, but markets also bring money failure. We 438 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: don't shut down stock market because insider trading exists. What 439 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,479 Speaker 1: do we do. We regulate it, and we prosecute it. 440 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: That's why I'm going. I got back to Steven A. Smith. Really, 441 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: so we found wrongdoing and you're somehow blaming Trump and 442 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: you're shocked that the FBI director is out talking talking 443 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:46,719 Speaker 1: about it because it involves the mob. The right analogy, however, 444 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 1: cuts both ways. In the securities markets separate corporate insider well, 445 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: let me rephrase this. Security markets separate corporate insiders from 446 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: the ability to nudge the underlying asset during the trading day. 447 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:11,040 Speaker 1: A CEO cannot quietly withhold a starting quarterback, say from 448 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,959 Speaker 1: the second half, in order to help a friend of 449 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 1: his that he knows is placing a particular bet. But 450 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 1: in basketball, the line between information and influence really is blurred. 451 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:23,720 Speaker 1: And then goes back to the structure of the game, 452 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: goes back to the structury of the refereeing, and he 453 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 1: goes back to Also, you pile on top of that 454 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: the sports bets and all the different kinds of props 455 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,160 Speaker 1: that you prop bets you can make, and you understand 456 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: that all of this begins to blur. And that's why 457 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:43,560 Speaker 1: the incenties to cheat becomes so sharp because the players 458 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:47,040 Speaker 1: become both the source of the edge and the instrument 459 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: of the execution. And look, I know it's a tempting 460 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 1: to try to find villains and then just stop. Now 461 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: there will be criminal liability, and I want there to 462 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:03,200 Speaker 1: be criminal liability where it's appropriate, just as I would 463 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: like to see some criminal liability in the United States 464 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: Congress for insider trading. But that's going to require the 465 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: I'm going to use the word crook. That's going to 466 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: require the crooks themselves to make what they do illegal, 467 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: or it's going to require the Securities and Exchange Commission 468 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: to really start doing hardcore investigation into what members of 469 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: Congress do and how they make those trades and on 470 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: what information they base those trades. And the Securities and 471 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,840 Speaker 1: Exchange Commission already has a boatload of craft that they've 472 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,479 Speaker 1: got to do dealing with everything else that goes on 473 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: trying to regulate all the markets around the country. The 474 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: point I'm making is it's probably not going to happen, 475 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: but that it isn't mean it right. I despise what 476 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: Congress does, and I'm not surprised by what the NBA 477 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 1: anymore than if you've ever studied the original baseball scandal, 478 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:12,719 Speaker 1: you wouldn't be surprised by this at all. If we 479 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: want fewer scandals wherever that may exist, we're gonna have 480 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 1: to learn to go deeper and address, for example, in 481 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: the NBA, this kind of intertwining that made it possible 482 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:31,000 Speaker 1: because the NBA's very design allows very small acts to 483 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 1: move outcomes, and then the app driven betting marketplace rewards 484 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:41,880 Speaker 1: those very minor insider guided deviations with real money. And 485 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 1: you put the two together, and you invite precisely what 486 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: we see, not chaos, but a really smooth, repeated arbitrage 487 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: of integrity. That is the perfect storm, while the NBA 488 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 1: structure makes it especially vulnerable. This NFL season has also 489 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:07,760 Speaker 1: raised some eyebrows with a series of suspiciously inconsistent officiating calls, 490 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 1: point spread swings, late game oddities, prompting many observers to wonder, 491 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 1: is professional football starting to develop their own version of 492 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 1: the same integrity problem. It was avoidable in degree, it 493 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 1: is correctable in part. It is not going to go 494 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:29,800 Speaker 1: away on its own anymore than insider trading in congress 495 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:32,240 Speaker 1: is ever going to go away on its own. Congress 496 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: itself is not going to correct this. And again, insofar 497 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:40,320 Speaker 1: as everything, let's just step back from this story completely 498 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 1: for a moment. What we're seeing happening in the country 499 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:50,480 Speaker 1: is something that's long overdue, and that is law enforcement 500 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: actually enforcing the law, whether that's ice, whether that's drug interdictions, 501 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:02,759 Speaker 1: whether that's saying to the cartels, we're tired of just 502 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:07,920 Speaker 1: capturing you, throwing you in our prisons, destroying the drugs, 503 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,960 Speaker 1: just to have you cockroaches replaced by other cockroaches. We're 504 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,840 Speaker 1: just gonna start killing the cockroaches. We're going to stop 505 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 1: the supply moving into where the demand is. And I 506 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,279 Speaker 1: don't deny that the demand is created on our side 507 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,960 Speaker 1: of the border. And insofar as we have begged for 508 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,320 Speaker 1: decades that we want people who are in the country 509 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:34,440 Speaker 1: illegally without authorization, who have broken our laws, to be 510 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:39,640 Speaker 1: removed from the country. So what's happening is we're starting 511 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:43,400 Speaker 1: to see a return of law and order. We're starting 512 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:47,680 Speaker 1: to see a return of law enforcement doing what we 513 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,840 Speaker 1: expected them to do. Now that's not to detegrate the 514 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,840 Speaker 1: local cop who tries to solve a murder, to stop, 515 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:56,879 Speaker 1: you know, a robbery or whatever, it's not. No, it's 516 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:00,640 Speaker 1: not that it's much larger than that goes on a 517 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: grander scale, on a macro scale. We've kind of decided that, yeah, 518 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,320 Speaker 1: well we're just going to kind of turn our eyes 519 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: away from all the drugs coming across the border and 520 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: the fact that we don't really do anything about it, 521 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,919 Speaker 1: and that for particularly the past four years, we did 522 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,000 Speaker 1: nothing about the illegal aliens coming across the border. And 523 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:25,040 Speaker 1: look what it's given us. Have you seen the video, 524 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 1: for example, of the truck driver that I think it 525 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 1: was in California that just slammed into the car in 526 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,280 Speaker 1: front of him and just never never touched his brakes, 527 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:37,919 Speaker 1: just kept going in just bam bam, bam bam bam, 528 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,320 Speaker 1: hit about four or five cars. And then they find 529 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:43,719 Speaker 1: as the crash began to spread out because of physics, 530 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,440 Speaker 1: it caught cars over here on the on the shoulder 531 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:50,240 Speaker 1: of the road. That's because of a lack of law enforcement. 532 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,600 Speaker 1: And that's what we're now seeing that we're going to 533 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:58,240 Speaker 1: start enforcing those laws. And so there's an actual reaction 534 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:02,040 Speaker 1: to that. Who those who believe in the poward pivet 535 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 1: strategy and don't want to see that occur. They want 536 00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:08,320 Speaker 1: the chaos. We want the chaos to stop. I'll be 537 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:08,879 Speaker 1: right back