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NBA insider and reporter for The Athletic Shams Charania has made his bed and now needs to lie on it. In other words he needs to face the consequences for his actions.
A quick recap: On Thursday, Charania tweeted out that Scoot Henderson was gaining serious momentum at No. 2 with the Charlotte Hornets in that night's NBA Draft.
WRONG.
According to another NBA insider, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Charlotte had ZERO- ZILCH - ZIPPO intention of selecting Scoot. Instead, they selected Alabama's Brandon Miller as was expected.
We're not saying Charania is clueless, quite the contrary. There is a belief that Charania knew what the outcome would be and potentially had a motive for passing on such bad information.
Charania is on the payroll of the sports betting firm FanDuel. It should be of little surprise that his Scoot pick caused lines to move across all betting platforms. In other words, countless numbers of individuals placed bets based on Charania's info.
Well, you guessed it, gamblers want off with his head.
Here's What They Are Saying
Shams Charania Fraud Allegations From NBA Draft, Explained (FanSided) -
"Betting lines had been heavily leaning towards Miller being the pick for Charlotte. Some bettors, emboldened by Charania’s report, put money on Henderson instead.
"The Wall Street Journal spoke to one such bettor who dropped a $500 bet on Henderson to the Hornets and encouraged others to do the same. They all lost out when the Hornets took Miller, as was originally expected."
Some Fans Want Shams in an Orange Jump Suit (SportsKeeda) -
"Woj reporting shams getting prison or smth for this would be legendary," one person posted via Reddit.
The "Woj" here is Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Another wrote:
"This is a bad look. I would suspect it's time to reevaluate some of these partnerships."
And another:
"Shams seems like a cutthroat scumbag “journalist” that would absolutely do this to tilt the odds for his gambling company employer. If it makes people feel better, I think Woj and Schefter are of the same ilk."
Not everybody believed Shams was looking to screw over players while helping FanDuel.
Haralabos Voulgaris, formerly of the Dallas Mavs front office, tweeted:
"I don't think there is anything nefarious going on but I find it puzzling that a regulated Sportsbook is allowed to take bets on the NBA draft and also employ an "insider" who can tweet nonsense that can move the betting markets."
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
