bill simmons forced to withdraw mvp vote because he was gambling on outcome

By EnlightenMe - 05-05-2012, 02:38 PM - Boxden > BX SportsCenter

http://www.businessinsider.com/espn-...-ballot-2012-5
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> bill simmons forced to withdraw mvp vote because he was gambling on outcome - Photo posted in BX SportsCenter | Sign in and leave a comment below!

ESPN's Star Writer Bill Simmons Forced To Withdraw His NBA MVP Vote Because He's Also Betting On The MVP

ESPN's star writer Bill Simmons has withdrawn his vote of LeBron James as MVP of the NBA due to a conflict of interest involving a bet he made on the award, Business Insider has learned.

Before the NBA season started, Simmons said on his podcast that he made a bet on James winning the MVP award. By the end of the season, the NBA actually handed Simmons a ballot allowing him to vote on who should be MVP.

He recorded a podcast of him filling in his ballot. Not surprisingly, Simmons voted for James.

Arguably James was the best player in the league this year. But the fact that Simmons has a bet riding could have presumably influenced his decision.

Simmons rarely disclosed that he had money riding on James winning the MVP even though he regularly wrote about the MVP voting process. In an April 3rd column on who should be the MVP he didn't disclose that he had a bet riding on LeBron James. He didn't mention it in this April 20 "mailbag" column where he listed his picks for MVP, either.

As far as we can tell, Simmons had no plan to withdraw his ballot until we started asking ESPN what its policy towards betting is. ESPN said he withdrew his ballot this week. We started asking about it this week.

Here's the official company line on the matter:

"Bill had never received a ballot before and didn't find out he had one until two-thirds of the season had passed. By that time he had made multiple MVP bets, two of which he had discussed on podcasts. He ended up withdrawing his MVP vote to avoid the perception of any conflict."

We've asked the NBA for a comment on its policy towards sportswriters betting on awards, and it hasn't responded.

If this were to happen in financial journalism it would be a huge scandal. If Andrew Ross Sorkin quietly owned a pile of Apple stock and was regularly pumping the company on CNBC he would be pummeled by media critics.

ESPN doesn't force its analysts to reveal when or if they've made bets, even though it could arguably impact their thinking on a team or a game.

When asked about ESPN's gambling policy, here's what it said:

"We have employee policies with respect to gambling to protect against potential conflicts. We recognize, however, that for many sports fans, gambling is a part of sports discussion. Therefore, periodically, our commentators include references to gambling in ways that are appropriate for their role and relevant to our audience. In Bill's case, he connects with millions by sharing common interests. Gambling in sports is a part of that cultural connection and appropriately at times part of Bill's work."

05-05-2012, 02:40 PM

this is why I hate lebron lovers...they jus won't admit that so many people want him to win and have been contributing to helping him win.

If lebron wins the league wins, ESPN wins and Nike wins.

05-05-2012, 02:42 PM

dummy.

05-05-2012, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by NineFour

LeBron thread, cam the first one in

[pic]

time for the !!suckin...u the first in line

05-05-2012, 02:44 PM

[pic] lebron is the MVP every year no matter who wins the award. this is gonna start being like jordan in the 90s where they're gonna rob him a couple years so he doesnt end up with 8+ MVP's..............

05-05-2012, 02:59 PM

lebron is the MVP its clear to see unless the HATE is bothering your VISION

[pic]

05-05-2012, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by p00rky

You are a funny flabby guy.

One of the greatest moments in basketball history involved Jordan pushing Russell out the way to win the Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. A lot of ppl wanted Jordan to win. But I doubt you complained when that happened.

Many ppl think Steve Nash was gifted MVP awards. They thought Kobe should of won. At that time Nash was hot. A lot of ppl wanted him to win. Did you complain?

Why are you so angry at Lebron?

Did he take the last jelly doughnut?

what's your point? If you followed me instead of these geeks on here you would know I always say that Mike was given alot. !! doesn't change that lebron is given waaaay more than anyone else. When analysts come on tv and basically beg you to be great, !! takes away from your greatness.

05-05-2012, 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by Cambury

this is why I hate lebron lovers...they jus won't admit that so many people want him to win and have been contributing to helping him win.

If lebron wins the league wins, ESPN wins and Nike wins.

[pic] this

05-05-2012, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by Cambury

this is why I hate lebron lovers...they jus won't admit that so many people want him to win and have been contributing to helping him win.

If lebron wins the league wins, ESPN wins and Nike wins.

You're calling Bill Simmons a LeBron lover?

05-05-2012, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by Cambury

this is why I hate lebron lovers...they jus won't admit that so many people want him to win and have been contributing to helping him win.

If lebron wins the league wins, ESPN wins and Nike wins.

you !!ing idiot. bill simmons hates lebron and newflash most nba writers and media hate lebron period you fool. ever since he !! on the two biggest media cities in chicago and new york when he picked not to play for them the salt has been thrown by most writers open ur eyes fatty [pic]

rich bucher and bill simmons prob hate lebron the most u dummy of coarse skip woulld be added but did isnt even a writer anymore hes a TV personality

05-05-2012, 03:22 PM

Bill Simmons is a Lebron Lover? [pic]

Maybe getting banned from BX will do you some good Cam. [pic]

05-05-2012, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by Jayborne23

You're calling Bill Simmons a LeBron lover?

where did I say that? Lebron lovers equal niccas who suck his !! and act like he isn't getting a fair deal in the league. This article just proves to me that everyone isn't against him like niccas say. We all know Bill Simmons and for him to say lebron was going to win and that he was going to vote says alot to you dudes who want to say "every writer in Ameria hates lebron"

Shut the !! up wit that !!

05-05-2012, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by Cambury

where did I say that? Lebron lovers equal niccas who suck his !! and act like he isn't getting a fair deal in the league. This article just proves to me that everyone isn't against him like niccas say. We all know Bill Simmons and for him to say lebron was going to win and that he was going to vote says alot to you dudes who want to say "every writer in Ameria hates lebron"

Shut the !! up wit that !!

fatty answer this question. do you think lebron james is the MVP for this season?

05-05-2012, 03:31 PM

niccas is !!es on here...you know when !!es jus make !! up so that they can say something...where did I say bill Simmons loves lebron hahahahaahahaha hoes[..] niccas love him so much they mind is impaired

05-05-2012, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by DEDOS

fatty answer this question. do you think lebron james is the MVP for this season?

first off who the !! are you

05-05-2012, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by Cambury

where did I say that? Lebron lovers equal niccas who suck his !! and act like he isn't getting a fair deal in the league. This article just proves to me that everyone isn't against him like niccas say. We all know Bill Simmons and for him to say lebron was going to win and that he was going to vote says alot to you dudes who want to say "every writer in Ameria hates lebron"

Shut the !! up wit that !!

Every writer does hate lebron, but that doesn't mean he wasn't going to win the MVP. [pic]

05-05-2012, 03:40 PM

seriously, this talking about cambury !! is getting old and i've only been on here for a couple months. people need to get some new jokes.

05-05-2012, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by EnlightenMe

seriously, this talking about cambury !! is getting old and i've only been on here for a couple months. people need to get some new jokes.

it really took off recently I been here for years and !! wasn't like this. The more and more they realized I wasn't like them character wise the more and more they got excited to even speak to me. It really is flattering for people to think of me as much as they do.

05-05-2012, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by Dangerously

Every writer does hate lebron, but that doesn't mean he wasn't going to win the MVP. [pic]

they dont hate him, they love to criticize him that's the difference. Lebrons fans are the dumbest supporters of all time and I sometimes it is fun poking fun at they man.

05-05-2012, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by p00rky

If you didn't get my point than it's nothing more I can do besides recommending you to read more books instead of fast food menus.

How do you base your "opinion" that "Lebron given waaaay more than anyone else"? Dumb it down for me. Because I can't calculate how you determine who gets away with more. What's your formula? Has there been any play by Lebron that overshadowed that blatant push by Jordan on Russel please let me know. Also if the league loves Lebron so much than why was that block on Melo last game ruled a foul? Was it a rogue official not following Sterns plans?

Analyst "beg you to be great"? Like they did with Iverson, Webber, Carter, and players in the past and future.

look back at the Detroit game in 07, you will notice that it never gets replayed. Do you want to know why?

lebron is the only player besides Iverson to have a team built strictly around how he plays. The difference is its been his entire career. When they realized what AI didnt didnt work for a championship they changed the scheme which kind of exposed him a bit. Because people want lebron to win so bad they won't ask him to step outside himself and do other things. dwade let lebron take like 16 GW potential shots last year and he didnt win one. What he said was I wanted to help him gain confidence...DOG do you realize how good Dwade is in those situations, he basically gave away games to help lebron. You are talking about the foul he got on Melo that's petty, lets talk about lebron having a 5 game stretch playing 30+ min pg and not getting 1 single foul.

Dude I was a fan, I know it well.

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