EXCLUSIVE: Was a Former NBA Bettor Running the Mavs?

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2021

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bob Voulgaris turned his career as a professional, data-driven NBA bettor into a team job when Mark Cuban made him Director of Quantitative Research and Analysis for the Dallas Mavericks. But tension built between Voulgaris and then-GM Donnie Nelson, and relationships with players got muddy. Reports in The Athletic this year claimed the former bettor was running the show behind the scenes in Dallas, and today the GM, coach and Voulgaris are no longer with the team. Now, Voulgaris sits down for his first interview since he left the Mavs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	ESPN Daily is presented by Supercuts, the smarter, easier way to get a haircut.
0:07.0	It's not just any haircut, it's Supercuts.
0:11.0	Hey everyone, before we start today's show, just wanted to note that this episode contains strong language.
0:29.0	Today, I want to introduce you to a man who has led one of the most fascinating lives in all of sports, a man named Bob Vulgaris.
0:33.5	I was an NBA better.
0:34.8	I bet on the NBA.
0:35.7	Hundreds of millions.
0:36.9	You added it all up.
0:38.0	Never really had a losing year.
0:40.4	Bob parlayed a skill for betting on NBA games into a full-time, high-level job in the front
0:45.9	office of an NBA team running the analytics department of the Dallas Mavericks.
0:51.1	It turned out to be more than just a jolt to the team's system.
0:56.6	I mean, look, I'm an acquired taste. I get that. Which is what owner Mark Cuban said he wanted,
1:03.4	but tensions reportedly escalated between Bob, the laptop toting outsider, the so-called
1:09.4	gambler, and general manager Donnie Nelson,
1:13.4	which all led to headlines accusing Bob of jeopardizing the team's relationship with superstar Luca Donchich.
1:24.9	So we bring you an exclusive interview with Bob Vulgaris, who answers questions for the first time
1:30.6	about whether he really was the shadow GM of the Mavericks.
1:36.6	I didn't know I was going to be running the draft.
1:38.9	I don't think it was anyone's plan for me to be running the draft.
1:42.0	But when it came time to pick 18,
1:44.5	the general manager of the team wasn't around.
	...

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