Basketball and the Mafia

Thann BennettFaithNews
Written By Thann Bennett

The National Basketball Association (NBA) finds itself in the midst of a mafia-involved gambling scandal. Portland Trailblazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier are among those who were arrested and are facing charges related to participating alongside mafia members in rigged poker games and using insider information to gamble on NBA games. Billups and Rozier both deny the allegations, and there are more than 30 co-defendants in the broader case.

Analysis and eternal perspective: “Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds . . . Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me” (Ps. 141:4,9).

This story speaks vividly about the depth of temptation that exists in our world. Many of the accused (who should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise) are comfortably affluent and lead lives of considerable luxury. Even those comforts, however, do not provide protection against the allure of wrongdoing. There was not a need for wrongful gain, and yet the forces of this world were actively setting traps and inviting those of affluence to participate with them in the proceeds of those traps.

This story very likely feels a million miles away from your life, and yet, the enemy uses the same plan with you. While it may not involve the NBA or the mafia as you know it, there are traps laid for you, and they are often baited with the promise of quick and easy gain. You will be tempted to let your guard down—perhaps even “just this once.” 

Choose faithfulness instead. 1 Corinthains 10:13 reminds us that God knows the temptations you face, and that He is faithful to carry you through them by providing a means of escape. Take a moment today to consider where there might be traps laid in your life. What steps do you need to take to guard against them?

The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.

Thann Bennett

Thann Bennett is the Founder and President of Every Good Work, which exists to equip Jesus followers for a life of impact. His weekly newsletter, The Equipped, helps Jesus followers engage current events through a lens of the True and the beautiful. Thann and his wife, Brooke, are co-Founders of A Fearless Life, which works to find and fund a family for every adoption-eligible foster child in America. Thann has more than two decades of high-level public policy experience, with a particular focus on the U.S. Congress and the United Nations. He is the author of In Search of the King and My Fame His Fame. Thann and Brooke live in southern Maryland with their three children: Jude, Gambrell, and Hope, as well as a host of farm animals. The Bennetts are longtime members of the National Community Church family in Washington, D.C.

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