Columnist Jeff Haney: Don’t rush to judgment on Wilt and gambling

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at 259-4041 or haney@vegas.com

So, the FBI once investigated charges that Wilt Chamberlain bet on his own games and shaved points in the late 1960s.

That doesn't impress Peter Ruchman much.

"My first reaction is, 'So what?' " said Ruchman, a sports-betting historian and general manager of the Gambler's Book Shop on South 11th Street. "It's basically gossip, rumor and allegations that are very hard to prove or disprove."

Chamberlain, who died last October at age 63, is considered one of the greatest players in NBA history. Standing 7-foot-1, the 13-time all-star was so dominant on the court that he's often credited with single-handedly changing the way game is played.

In perhaps his most famous feat, Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game for the Philadelphia Warriors against the New York Knicks in 1962.

Off the court, the Philadelphia native and longtime LA resident had a reputation for enjoying life to the fullest.

But he had never been linked to gambling until last week, when Internet website thesmokinggun.com published a series of FBI files from the 1960s that indicate Chamberlain was the subject of a probe involving illegal betting on NBA games.

The accusations were never substantiated, and Chamberlain was never charged with any wrongdoing.

That leads Ruchman to believe the investigation was most likely a by-product of the political climate of the time, rather than a sign of any guilt on Chamberlain's part.

"You have to remember, within that time frame the FBI was hard at work compiling dirt and slander on anyone that (FBI director) J. Edgar Hoover perceived as a threat," said Ruchman, who is writing a three-volume book on the history of sports gambling.

"He investigated Martin Luther King Jr. (because) he perceived him to be a threat. It wouldn't surprise me if Wilt was on his list too, because of his attitude -- not that Wilt had a bad attitude, but just because he wouldn't put up with any guff."

The FBI reports on Chamberlain rely heavily on unnamed informants from Las Vegas, New Orleans, Miami and several East Coast cities.

One memo, citing a Nevada Gaming Control Board source, suggests that Chamberlain bet against his own team, the Philadelphia 76ers, in a 1968 game, then played poorly in the contest.

In another document addressed to "Director, FBI," Hoover is told "that Wilt Chamberlain is a very heavy gambler in basketball games in the NBA."

But the fact that FBI officials were unable to confirm the allegations doesn't sit well with Ruchman, who likened the probe to the entertainment industry's blacklisting scandal of the McCarthy era.

"Anything the FBI was doing in the '50s and '60s I would tend to look at with a jaundiced eye," Ruchman said. "There was too much silliness going on -- not silliness in a funny sense, but in a political sense.

"Hoover thought that anyone who was critical of 'American values' deserved to be dealt with harshly. And the way Hoover interpreted it, that often meant anyone who stood up for their ethnic group, or their religious group.

"So as an historian, I would tend to discount this type of report."

A Nov. 3, 1966, document describes a "possible fix" in a 76ers vs. Boston Celtics game on Oct. 29, 1966. The Sixers opened 5-point underdogs but the smart "information" was that Philadelphia would win the game.

"On the evening of the game, the game was 'off the boards' in Boston except that bets were being accepted on the Boston Celtics," the document states. "... Boston bookmakers who were in the know were not laying off bets on the Celtics but were pocketing them."

Ruchman acknowledged that this kind of scam, virtually unheard of today, was more common in the early days of professional sports -- particularly in the NFL, which was awash in gambling from the 1920s through the 1940s.

But he's far from convinced Chamberlain had anything to do with betting.

"It is possible that these allegations are true," Ruchman said. "On the other hand, it's real easy to slander someone when he's dead."

* DERBY FUTURES: After a busy weekend of horse racing, Fusaichi Pegasus has emerged as a 7-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby futures book at Bally's race book.

"We had absolutely a ton of money come in on him," said John Avello, director of race and sports for Bally's and Paris. "There were a number of big races over the weekend, and we had tremendous action in the futures. I made a lot of adjustments (Tuesday) morning."

Fusaichi Pegasus, a Neil Drysdale-trained Danzig colt, won a $54,000, 1 1/16-mile allowance race Saturday at Santa Anita, cruising to a 3 1/2-length victory under a hand ride by Kent Desormeaux.

His opening price was 100-1 at Bally's.

* NASCAR BETTING: Normally, the Imperial Palace sports book would have already posted odds on the Carsdirect.com 400, set for Sunday, March 5, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

But sports book supervisor Ed Salmons said the IP is waiting to hear if NASCAR implements any rules changes for the Las Vegas race following a controversy in this past Sunday's Daytona 500.

General Motors racing teams complained that Ford cars had an unfair aerodynamic advantage at Daytona, and NASCAR plans to conduct wind-tunnel testing to determine if the gripes have any merit.

As a result, Salmons said, odds on the Las Vegas race may not hit the board until next week.