Balgarianovinite.com
ESPN’s Michael Wilbon drew reactions of shock and outrage — including from his Pardon the Interruption co-host Tony Kornheiser — when his response to new sports gambling indictments was to literally say “I don’t care.”
The sports world has been rocked during the last few weeks by a wave of stories involving accusations of illegal gambling schemes involving major players, coaches, and other influential people in multiple sports.
In late October, the FBI made multiple arrests, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, for charges related to Mafia-run poker games, participation in suspicious betting activity, and other accusations of illegal gambling activity. The bombshell story was a huge black eye for the NBA, especially since the allegations covered players providing nonpublic information or changing their gameplay to affect gambling wagers.
This was shortly followed by new allegations of UFC fighters saying they had been approached by people asking them to fix fights and then it was baseball’s turn this weekend, with two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Luis Ortiz and star reliever Emmanuel Clase, arrested for allegedly “rigging pitches” in exchange for kickback payments.
Proposition bets, more commonly called prop bets, which don’t affect the outcome of the game, are a key element of many of these allegations. These wagers have been criticized both for the increased risk for addiction for gamblers and the temptations they create for players, coaches, and others to be bribed, threatened, or coerced.
During the “Mail Time” part of Monday’s episode of PTI, Wilbon and Kornheiser chatted about the new allegations against the Guardians pitchers.
Kornheiser said that obviously the accused are “always innocent until proven guilty,” but when he read the charges it seemed to him that they were “rock solid.” He wasn’t sure this was something that deserved prison time — if convicted, the charges can carry sentences of up to 20 years — but added, “I got to say, Mike, as I sit here now, I don’t think either of them is ever going to pitch in the major leagues again.”
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred “has to come out, and he has to say ;this is what we are doing to prevent this from happening in the future,’” Kornheiser added, because “these prop bets — they are the poisoned apple.”
“They are, they are, Tony,” Wilbon agreed, saying that he was “not going to disagree with anything you said,” and if they’re guilty, they’ll be punished, “so be it.”
“I mean, you know the rules,” he continued, “It’s explained over and over to you, in seminars –”
“You’re defrauding the game!” said Kornheiser.
“Yes,” said Wilbon. “And you know what, Tom? I don’t care.”
“Really?” replied Kornheiser, clearly taken aback.
“Because at the highest levels of pyramids in this country, in this culture, everybody’s betting now,” Wilbon said. “It’s on every phone except yours and mine.”
“But don’t you want it to be honest? Don’t you want it to be honest?” Kornheiser retorted with his voice raised.
“Does that affect the game?” Wilbon said. “Does it tilt it in any way that matters to me?”
“I know what you’re going to say — that it’s very small and it’s not throwing the game,” Kornheiser pushed back.
“Right,” said Wilbon, ”
“But the more these things happen,” Kornheiser said, it was like water accumulating and then “suddenly there’s a flood.”
And with that, they moved on to the next topic.
Wilbon’s nonchalant reaction to the gambling indictments, particularly his “I don’t care” remark, drew a sharp and loud rebuke from numerous sports fans. A sampling of tweets is below.
i understand gambling is normal but people being willfully ignorant about the harm of PLAYERS BETTING ON GAMES THEY PLAY IN is wild. how can a sports league exist if players have unknown and potentially conflicting incentives? i turn on a game, I wanna see them play to win. https://t.co/9BpeWPGfVr
— mansur
(@mansurshaheen) November 11, 2025
Watch the video above via Pardon the Interruption on YouTube (relevant section starts around the 12:45 mark).
The post ‘I Don’t Care’: ESPN’s Michael Wilbon Draws Outrage With Nonchalant Response After MLB Pitchers Indicted on Gambling-Related Charges first appeared on Mediaite.
‘I Don’t Care’: ESPN’s Michael Wilbon Draws Outrage With Nonchalant Response After MLB Pitchers Indicted on Gambling-Related Charges 2025 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2025-11-11 07:55:46 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law