Gambling arrest doesn't necessarily nix Cavs deal

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Gambling has long been taboo in professional sports. But while Major League Baseball prohibits owners from having any affiliation with even legal gambling, the NBA's rules are not as clear-cut. The league's 30 team owners ultimately will decide whether prospective Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's gambling-related arrest while in college will affect his $375 million deal to buy the team. The Detroit area businessman was arrested on charges of running a bookmaking ring in 1981 while a student at Michigan State. He was fined, given probation and ordered to do community service. The felony was dropped after he completed the sentence. Phoenix Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo said he doesn't think the arrest would be a deal-breaker, but he wants to hear more than media reports before making a decision. "Obviously, we have rules and regulations regarding gambling," Colangelo said Wednesday. "I'm not going to pass judgment on any situation until we have facts." Gilbert said the gambling involved a football pool that he likened to a weekly poker game. He said he told the league about the arrest and doesn't believe it will affect his purchase of the Cavaliers. The college arrest hasn't stopped him from leading Quicken Loans Inc., a $12 billion Web-based mortgage lender based near Detroit. But because of the potential for gambling to undermine the integrity of a professional sport, his NBA ownership bid could be a bigger challenge. "It gets back into the credibility of the game. If fans think that it's fixed, then it's going to be just like wrestling," Dave Synowka, a professor of sports management at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania, said, referring to scripted professional wrestling matches. Baseball forbids owners from having direct contact with any gambling entity, league spokesman Rich Levin said. "It goes back to the 1919 Black Sox scandal and ever since then baseball has been ultra sensitive to any type of gambling," he said. The NFL draws the line at casinos. The Pittsburgh Steelers are owned by the Rooney family, which has an interest in horse racing tracks. In 1999, billionaire oilman Marvin Davis bowed out of his bid for an expansion NFL franchise in Los Angeles because of his company's investments in gambling. At the time, Davis said he rejected the league's suggestion that his family dispose of its gambling interests to gain the approval of certain owners who would have otherwise voted against him. The NBA has been less strict about mixing ownership with gambling enterprises. Sacramento Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof operate the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As a condition for ownership, they agreed not to accept wagers on NBA games at the casino's sports book. The WNBA's Connecticut Sun not only is owned by the Mohegan Indian tribe but plays at its casino. The league allows the group to own a team because there is no sports betting at the casino. A committee of NBA executives -- with input from Commissioner David Stern -- will make a recommendation to team owners on Gilbert's application, league spokesman Tim Frank said. Gilbert needs approval from 23 of the 30 ownership groups to complete his purchase from Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund, who has a vote. Gund was not available to comment Wednesday. The organization has declined comment on Gilbert's gambling arrest. Gilbert already appears to have one vote -- from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who has said he doesn't care what Gilbert did in college. Detroit Free Press