There’s an especially weird story about the Western Conference Finals revolving around a certain Las Vegas casino. It began before the season started.
Leslie Alexander sold the Houston Rockets back in September to businessman Tilman Fertitta for $2.2 billion. Along with being famous for owning Landry’s, Inc. and hosting “Billion Dollar Buyer,” Fertitta owns the Golden Nugget Las Vegas.
To avoid a potential conflict of interest, the casino decided to eliminate the option for patrons to bet on Rockets games. David Purdum has an interesting story about it on ESPN.
Essentially, the Rockets might as well not be in the league if bettors wager on things related to the NBA at that casino.