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The widespread legalization of sports betting has led to a rise in the number of people who think it’s acceptable to confront an athlete whose performance was involved in a wager they ended up losing. Fred VanVleet has not been immune to that phenomenon, and he recently revealed someone thought a church was an appropriate place to air their grievances.
Most people who bet on sports don’t have much trouble adhering to the legal disclaimer in every ad for the sportsbooks that are required to advise users to “GAMBLE RESPONSIBLY.” However, there’s a reason those warnings exists in the first place, as there are also plenty of people who end up getting overly invested in their bets on both the financial and the emotional front.
There was already a well-documented dark side to sports betting before the Supreme Court opened the door for its legalization across the United States close to a decade ago, and it’s received more attention than ever thanks to the inevitable increase in the number of people who experienced some kind of crashout after losing money on a wager that failed to hit.
Athletes at both the pro and college levels have subsequently had to deal with a spike in people sliding into their DMs to issue death threats as well as some particularly bold bettors who don’t have any qualms about approaching them in person, which is the situation one NBA player had to deal with while in a house of worship.
Fred VanVleet got called out over a lost parlay while he was at church
There’s no way to know if Canadian politeness helped make Fred VanVleet immune from the wrath of angry bettors during his time with the Raptors or if he found himself in an awkward situation after arriving in Houston when he signed with the Rockets ahead of the 2023 season.
However, during a recent appearance on the 520 Club, he shared an anecdote about a very uncomfortable interaction he had with a fan shortly after kicking off the podcast.
I have a feeling the ad buyer for the sportsbook whose sponsored read served as a segue into a question about fans getting mad about missed parlays was less than thrilled with that line of questioning, but VanVleet confirmed he had some experience on that particular front while relaying a story that fit the bill.
The guard noted he’s less concerned with messages online compared to unruly fans who aren’t afraid to approach him in public, saying:
“The internet don’t bother me. It’s the in-person one you have to be careful for.
I had somebody run down on me in church; ‘N—a you f—ked up my parlay.’ In church. I said, “Damn!” $3,000. It was some youngin. I couldn’t believe it. It’s real out here.”
Some people need to learn how to exercise some self-control.