Just last month, the NBA was hit with one of the biggest scandals in the history of the sport when the FBI made several arrests, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones. While the investigation is still ongoing, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has shared his stance on the controversy.

“The NFL and the NFLPA kind of tell us all the different rules that you can and can’t do. I just stay away from it, just ’cause I don’t want to put myself in that position. Your life’s so great, why mess with it?” Mahomes explained. “More than anything to me, it gets weird sometimes when you have fans talking about it, just ’cause, like, you’re just trying to go out there and live your life and play the game, and sometimes they get really attached to them even more than, like, the regular fan because they have money on the line.”

Well, you cannot blame Mahomes here. Fantasy teams play a major role in fans betting big on their favorite teams. Obviously, they lose money if the teams lose, but it would be a different level of heartbreak if fans came to know that the players colluded with the mafia to fake an injury or lose the game purposely.

But since the NFL already pays its players handsomely, the Chiefs’ QB warned his fellow football players to stay focused in the game.

“I would just say don’t do anything that you can’t recuperate or live without. And so, it’s a crazy world we live in these days, seeing all this stuff happen. But you just focus on the football and focus on the sport that you love and why you’re here. Then you don’t have to worry about that other stuff,” he added.

Notably, more than money, such controversies harm the reputation, which is the last thing any team (or sport) would like. And Mahomes would never want the NFL to be around this NBA-like scandal.

Patrick Mahomes wouldn’t like the NFL to be hit by NBA-like controversy

The NBA betting scandal had two aspects, which have left fans shaken. The insider trading part is the easy one. In one game, Rozier reportedly faked his injury to come out of the game. It made them tens of thousands of dollars in profit. But the scarier part was the Mafia and players’ collusion.

As Patrick Mahomes warned, NFL players could learn from Rozier. His career is potentially over. If he fails to explain his actions, the NBA might get rid of him.

“As the NBA season tips off, his career is already benched, not for injury but for integrity,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said about the NBA player.

In the rigged poker games, the officials have filed charges of robbery, extortion, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal gambling. The money cheated out of victims is in the range of $7 million, with $1.8 million extorted from one fan. So, the implications of such cases are huge. Patrick Mahomes understands this.

It’s better if the NFL avoids such doubts altogether.