FanDuel Plays Dumb About Shams Charania Affecting 2023 NBA Draft Odds With Scoot Henderson Report
Well, I guess FanDuel is going to piss on us and say it's raining. Bettors discussed the elephant in the room on Twitter, which is NBA insider, and "FanDuel Partner," Shams Charania's reporting influencing odds for the 2023 NBA Draft.
Shams went on The Pat McAfee Show Thursday morning to discuss scuttlebutt prior to the NBA Draft later that night. Charania mentioned how the Charlotte Hornets were interested in drafting Scoot Henderson with the No. 2 overall pick Thursday.
Shortly afterward, Sham's partner, FanDuel, jacked up the odds for "Henderson to be taken 2nd in the 2023 NBA Draft" to -900. Obviously, Twitter threw a temper tantrum when the Hornets took Brandon Miller 2nd. And rightfully so.
Former Alabama forward Brandon Miller poses with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted 2nd by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2023 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in the Brooklyn. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
However, in an effort to ease everyone's mind about the suspicious activity, FanDuel released a laughable response ...
Excuse me, FanDuel. "Not privy to any news that Shams breaks on his platforms"? I mean come on, haha. FanDuel has the internet, right? At minimum, FanDuel watched Shams on The Pat McAfee Show and reacted.
I had to look up "privy" just to make sure FanDuel used the right word. Apparently, FanDuel is saying it didn't have knowledge of Shams' report before ahead of time. Which appears to be a lie. Notice the time of the Tweets below ...
VSIN NBA handicapper tweeted out Henderson being a -900 favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook at 9:20 a.m. PT Thursday morning. The Pat McAfee Show's social media team tweeted out Shams appearance five minutes later.
The Shams Charania and FanDuel Sportsbook partnership looks sketchy
I'm sure it took McAfee's social team a few minutes to cut up Shams' appearance and turn it into a post. So perhaps FanDuel didn't have prior knowledge of his Charania's report. But, FanDuel's argument is thin, at best.
Whether or not FanDuel knew of Shams' report beforehand, it's a bad look for both parties. McAfee broke down the situation with NFL insider Ian Rapoport and shot Shams some bail on his show Friday.
Like I said Friday morning, I'm not sure how to feel about the Shams and FanDuel partnership. I'm not going to sit here and tell you "I'd decline FanDuel's money". But, the sketchiness of this situation is only made worse by FanDuel's BS response.
Let's turn to my north star of NBA gambling, Haralabos Voulgaris, for some clarity on this situation. For those of you unfamiliar with Voulgaris, he may be the most successful NBA bettor ever.
Voulgaris pretty much covers all the bases of this topic. Are Shams and FanDuel in cahoots to fleece bettors? Probably not. Is out of question that this could happen? Definitely not. Does it look bad? Absolutely.
The bottom line is FanDuel and Shams have some explaining to do. FanDuel throwing its arms up and saying "How were we supposed to know?" just ain't cutting it.