Top 4 NBA Players Who Are Actually Casino Enthusiasts

The NBA is indeed one of the most popular American men’s professional basketball leagues. It is known for all the iconic basketball players that gained worldwide fame for their successes and skills. Some say that the life of a sports celebrity goes hand in hand with glamour, fashion, and gambling. Even if this might be just a stereotype many NBA players are fascinated by the casino lights.

Some say that the most influential athletes are great role models and that they should not have hobbies such as gambling. However, what most people oversee is the fact that all of them are just humans, and sometimes they like to entertain themselves by visiting famous Las Vegas casinos. And it is not only about playing casino games, there is much more to it – the atmosphere, the lights, the people, the show.

If you are interested in discovering which NBA players have a passion for gambling, read all about it below.

Michael Jordan

We all know Michael Jeffrey Jordan, Michael Jordan, MJ, 23 – one of the greatest names in sport not only in the NBA. The legend and a cultural icon who played 15 seasons for this league and the most prominent Chicago Bulls player! Many would say that he is the greatest basketball player of all time, and yet one of his life long passions apart from sports is playing casino games.

As a matter of fact, MJ is famous for the competitive character that led him to bet even outside casinos, in golf championships with his friends. Allegedly, wagering on golf caused Jordan to lose $1.2 million in a game. Which doesn’t sound that bad when his net worth of 1.6 billion USD is taken into account, right?

Charles Oakley

Another basketball player with a passion for gambling, Charles Oakley, has a bit of a different wagering history. When you read about NBA online sports betting you probably won’t find anything about NBA players gambling themselves. However, unlike all the debts and losses by the above-mentioned player, Oakley had people owing him money- or specifically, gambling debts. Philadelphia Sixers player, Tyrone Hill, failed to pay Oakly what he owed him after losing a dice game.

This made this power forward filled with anger and he confronted Hill by throwing basketballs at him. This all happened during a preseason game, and Charles Oakley was suspended later on. Besides, he had to pay $10.000 for inappropriate behavior, but at least he got his money back in the end.

Antoine Walker

It seems like it all started with Jordan, as yet another of his fellow sportsmen and a friend who played for Celtics, Antoine Walker, developed a thing for gambling. Some blame his gambling addiction for the demise of his career. Antoine Walker managed to get in the red and make $882,500 worth of gambling debts at various casinos.

And it seems that that is not all – due to the lack of control and his gambling addiction he is facing a couple of felony counts for tendering bad checks. Walker has a weak spot for poker, which is traced back to 2009 when he first started playing.

Charles Barkley

Like already mentioned, Jordan had friends that enjoy gambling as much as he does, and one of them is Charles Berkley. This NBA player seemed to be pretty intrigued by the Vegas lights. All those luxurious adventures made this talented sports athlete lose 10 million dollars while in a casino in Las Vegas. Moreover, Berkley even failed to return the $400 000 debt to the Wynn Casino, which resulted in a lawsuit.