Sports and sports betting are two entities that are quite difficult to separate. However, different incidents have continued to expose the rather unpalatable side of this association, particularly in the WNBA this season.
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For example, high-profile players like Natasha Cloud, Chelsea Gray, and Courtney Williams have been targeted, harassed, and even sent death threats by bettors who lost money on player performance props and parlays. And this kind of hostility has raised serious concerns about the impact of sports gambling on the safety and well-being of professional basketball players.
This was one issue that the now-retired player and former WNBA Players Association president, Nneka Ogwumike, made sure to address while speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, which took place from October 12 to October 14. And her comments definitely validate the NBA and WNBA’s latest intervention in sports betting, as both leagues move to restrict certain types of wagers that could contribute to the problems players face.
As shared by ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania, the NBA and prominent sportsbooks have now agreed to ban multiple types of bets. These include parlay bets involving the under on the same player’s statistics, “first-of” markets such as the winner of the opening tip and whether an individual will record a specific shot, rebound, assist, or steal, as well as under bets on players expected to play fewer than 12 minutes per game.
“There’s a balance between ensuring that we are removing problematic bet types but also ensuring that we don’t just move activity into the illegal market,” NBA executive vice president Scott Kaufman-Ross told ESPN. “And where we landed right now, we think, is the right balance of those two objectives.”
The report also confirms that the restrictions will extend to the WNBA, with a league spokesperson confirming that the changes will take effect for the 2027 season.
The intersection between sports betting and the harassment of athletes by angry bettors has come to light on several occasions in the WNBA this season. In July, veteran guard Natasha Cloud spoke out about receiving hateful messages from frustrated sports bettors, describing the experience as an everyday “normality” after games. Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray even shared a screenshot on her Instagram Story showing an individual directing vile racial slurs at her.
These troubling experiences were among the concerns reflected in Ogwumike’s address at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, where she spoke about the “vitriol” and safety issues players face from angry bettors online and in arenas when their on-court performances affect wagers.
“It’s not a safe place for athletes, I have to say,” Nneka said. “I do understand the business of things and being able to contribute to a growing league. But unfortunately, in what I like to call growing pains, players are definitely having a hard time dealing with the vitriol that comes with prediction markets as it relates to our performance.”
“There’s been a lot of safety issues and concerns that haven’t necessarily been publicly displayed. But through the PA and through the WNBA, there are a lot of resources that are available to try and mitigate those things. But it doesn’t mean that it stops players from experiencing things that could potentially, and have potentially affected, their performance,” she added.
Ogwumike’s comments actually form part of a broader move on how professional sports leagues can protect athletes as sports betting and prediction markets continue to expand. A notable part of that move happened in mid-September when major men’s professional sports leagues sent a joint memo to state gaming regulators addressing concerns about bettor harassment.
The WNBA and WNBPA, which were initially excluded from that appeal and expressed displeasure over their omission, also subsequently joined the effort, with the NBA and WNBA officially joining forces on September 24, 2026, to send an amended appeal to state gambling regulators.
The latest agreement between the NBA and prominent sportsbooks appears to be a continuation of those efforts, moving beyond appeals for regulatory intervention to restrictions on specific betting markets. And while this may not eliminate harassment entirely, it’s definitely a concrete step toward limiting the problem.