On Feb. 20, 2026, “The Athletic” published an article about a death threat sent to Nina Westbrook, the wife of Sacramento Kings point guard Russell Westbrook, from an anonymous email. The email came after a Kings loss against the Orlando Magic in which Westbrook scored only five points. While it was not confirmed if the sender lost money on the game, Westbrook linked the email to “[t]he negative effects of sports betting” in an Instagram story.

Death threats directed at athletes and celebrities are not uncommon, but the article makes the point that a rise in consumer sports betting has and will continue to exacerbate the issue. The Westbrooks’ case is far from an isolated incident, according to the article, which points out that NBA players like Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart of the New York Knicks have gone on record stating that it is a common occurrence for them to be harassed with threats wishing them harm, including racially charged ones.

Professional athletes aren’t the only ones whose safety is endangered by sports betting, either; it’s also affecting NCAA athletes. In an article published by the NCAA in 2024, it reported an increase of sports betting-related harassment and cyberbullying of college athletes during the 2023-24 Division I basketball season. This included over 54,000 posts about and comments to various athletes during the D-I men’s and women’s basketball tournament that were flagged as threatening; some of them were even reported to local law enforcement. Women’s basketball student-athletes received three times as many threatening posts and comments. Over 540 messages related to betting used abusive language, including death threats. Coaches, referees and other NCAA officials also received messages like these.

While gambling in sports is nothing new, it’s more accessible and popular than ever. Fans can easily place bets on game outcomes through a myriad of different sources, and it’s just as easy for anyone to get addicted to gambling their funds on games. 

But when the cards end up falling down and people end up losing big, athletes can become the targets of their frustration. It’s unfortunately far too commonplace for betting outcomes to fuel online harassment.

The full implications of consumer sports betting for the sports industry are uncertain and likely won’t be clear for a long time due to how recently it was made legal. Given the lucrative monetary benefits that corporations enjoy from these bets and the tax income states make off them, though, the industry appears here to stay. 

What is clear are the harmful impacts of sports betting on the mental health and safety of athletes, especially when they receive constant threats. Athletes are reduced to commodities through gambling, which strips away their humanity and removes any moral implications for or considerations of it. Athletes are, of course, their own people with their own lives outside of sports. What is seen of them through games, interviews and other media appearances is only a small fraction of their existence. Yet, the fact that fans gamble on athletes’ performances demonstrates a sense of ownership that threatens the healthy fan-athlete relationship. 

The sports industry, however, continues to encourage betting for its gain. This is echoed in a “Harvard Law Today” article that focuses partially on a lecture delivered by Harry Levant, the director of gambling policy at Northeastern University. Levant speaks about the lack of accountability held by newly popular and accessible sports betting companies such as DraftKings and Kalshi. These companies claim that their services do not directly harm anyone but promise to reimburse any indirect harm that their services could bring. 

“That’s the moral equivalent of Big Tobacco saying, ‘Let us do what we want with our product, as long as we pay for chemotherapy,’” Levant said. “Do we tolerate such a model with any other product?”

The problematic consequences of sports betting demonstrate a growing issue of the kind previously unseen by the sports industry. The profits of betting companies and sports brands make it a deeply corrupt force that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. At the same time, stories like the Westbrooks’s plainly illustrate the real threats to athletes’ and their families’ safety that sports betting can create, not to mention the impact of such threats on the mental health of athletes and the gamblers whose addictions derail their lives – while corporations and government gain a nice profit.