Simmons bets on LeBron to win MVP then votes for him

Thanks Glenn - I enjoyed the read.

 

I bet Grantland has one less reader, then I quit going to Grantland. Is that wrong?

 

This is both a good argument against sports writers voting and sports writers betting.

 

He's a grown man who can do whatever he wants with his money, but like Romney keeping his money in foreign bank accounts, it is just a bad idea.

Who is to stop Simmons next year putting a grand on Chris Paul as the MVP then writing all year about how Paul should be the MVP, even though he might not deserve it, because Simmons could make $20k on the deal.

 

Yep, that's the problem.

And I know some would say, "What's the big deal? LeBron clearly deserved to be MVP, so no harm, no foul."

But my philosophy is that you just don't judge this on a case-by-case basis. It gets too messy that way. It's a hard-and-fast rule, and that's that.

 

One of a number of articles discussing the topic:
http://thephoenix.com/boston/recroom/115167-should-sportswriters-be-allowed-to-gamble-on-sport/