The Ben Mulroney Show - The betting scandal that's dunking on the NBA

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

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This podcast is brought to you by the National Payroll Institute, the leader for the payroll profession in Canada, setting the standard of professional excellence, delivering critical expertise, and providing resources that over 45,000 payroll professionals rely on. Welcome to the Ben Mulroney show on Friday, October 24th. We appreciate that you join us each and every day. It really does mean a lot to us. Today is a special day. Today is the beginning of the World Series for the first time in 32 years.

The games are played in Toronto by Canadian team. Toronto Blue Jays versus the Dodgers of Los Angeles. And in a tradition, which is as old as sport, I'm sure, the mayors of each city the mayor of Toronto versus the mayor of Los Angeles have a side bet. They've got a bet on who's going to win

the World Series. And we've got Karen Bass is the mayor of Los Angeles and Olivia Chow is the mayor of Toronto. They have progressive bona fides on their resume and so you would

you got to wonder, what is a bet between these two mayors? going to look like. Well, let's listen to the mayor of Toronto. Now, we're both cyclists. So we bet that the losing mayor has to wear each other's jersey, okay, and but the number of runs the winner have scored. I am so confident that I said to her, she can do it in kilometers and I'll do it in miles. First of all, I think the bet's a great one. It's a great one. And it's on brand for both

the mayor, so good on them. And I really like what Olivia Chow said in the end there. don't have, like someone should have asked a follow-up question. Is it the runs in the final game? Is it the total number of runs? You don't know. You don't know. And there are situations where

conceivably the winner could score fewer runs than the loser, right? If the winner wins each game by one and there's one game where the loser blows out the other team, that could be a really terrible

pill to swallow. If the losing mayor has to do fewer kilometers than the winner might have had to do. But anyway, the fact is, there are certain kinds of bets we like, the one we just talked about, and then there are certain types of bets that we don't like. And do you remember, do you remember John Tay Porter in 2024? It's played for the Raptors. And he was permanently banned by the NBA for gambling violations. And what he would do is he would take himself out of games, claiming that he had an injury because he had known that there were going to be bets placed on his performance.

And when he reached a certain level, he didn't want to tempt fate, didn't want to anyway throwing them a ball again for fear that he might screw up the bet. So he would just pretend to be injured. So he's out of the league. And a lot of people thought, okay, you know, good riddance to bad people. But it turns out he was just the canary in the coal mine.

He was just the hint. He was the lightning before the storm. And he also was not a big star. Very few people knew him. He played a couple of minutes a game. But you knew that it was going to come back and get more. Right. So he was the lightning.

Yeah. And now Cash Patel of the FBI is the storm. Individuals such as Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones, and Terry Rozier were taken in a custody today, former current NBA players and coaches. What you don't know is that this is an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation that span the course of years. The FBI led a coordinated takedown across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing. Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA,

but we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Casano to include the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families. Ah, that's a lot, right? He dropped a bunch of microphones right there. I mean, he's talking about some of the biggest stars in the NBA, the biggest, most popular league,

and the Kosanostra, Casa Nostra would translate to our home. Anyway, La Cosa Nosa. Like, literally, the five families are mentioned by the FBI. So this has, but we need to explain what this is all about because there's a lot of threads to pull out, right? So there's the sports betting scheme that they laid into. Because there's two parts to this.

Right. Sports betting scheme is part one. Yeah. And so there's, and then there's a number of parts to this, right? We sort of explained one of them before, where a player would know what's the line on him was supposed to be, how many points he was supposed to score, and people took the under, then they could make a ton of money. And so he would then alter his performance to make sure that there was money to be made, and then he'd get his cut. And that's what

Miami Heat Guard, that's what Terry Rozier is alleged to have done. Yes, and he also allegedly informed co-conspirators that he would exit a, they've gotten like actual games. March 2023 game early. This is like if insider trade They've got the text messages. They've got all the communications. Yeah. And they also have the bets. Yeah.

And you've got AI today is going to be able to cross-reference all this stuff and find the outliers. So sometimes it was players who would do it. And other times it would be like former players who had the inside track on an injury before it was announced in the press. And so then they could place big bets. Don't, hey, don't bet on this team tonight because the star player, it hasn't been announced yet, but they have an Achilles tear, for example. And they're not going to play tonight.

So bet big on the other team. And the one guy who is doing this allegedly, Damon Jones, who was a former NBA player and very good friend with the biggest star in the world, LeBron James. Yeah. And he knew that LeBron James was injured. So now his name is being pulled into this. And he set up some bets. And so that's a pretty big deal.

Yeah. And so the way it worked, was uncovered was the legal sporting sport books. They flag it. They flag this stuff. They can see this stuff happening. I don't know why people think they can get away with this stuff more than once, right? And AI is making it easier to track this stuff.

Anything can happen once by accident. But the second you start making a building a system out, then you have a problem. Okay. But then there's also the fixed poker games. And this is wild. This one is wild. Okay. This is, there's going to be a movie.

made about this. This is Oceans 11 times 10. They had x-ray machines built into tables so they could read the cards face down. They did this in conjunction with special contact lenses and so it could allow them to read pre-marked cards. Secret cameras. They had players who were known as quarterbacks. They had different players, different people playing different roles all designed to get the money out of like the whale who is brought into the table. It is ocean. It's, it's oceans a lot. There's the mark. I guess you'd call him the mark. The guy with the money that they were going to separate the guy from his money.

And the draw was he was going to be playing with celebrities. And one of the celebrities was Chauncey Billups. Who's a Hall of Fame player and current coach. Can you imagine if you're enticed to play with a hero of yours and the hero pulls out all the stops to defraud you of your money? Yeah. This is pretty bad. Let's get to the Shaquille O'Neal clip because one of the greatest biggest stars

in the game. This has hit the NBA. But let's not forget, it's hit the, NBA just started their new season, right? Just started their new season, and they're still new into the world of this relationship with online legal betting, and it's making for some interesting moments on TV. But this is a really interesting insight from Shaquille O'Neal. You all know the letter of the law when it comes to gambling and sports gambling, and I don't want to sit up here like I'm some perfect guy.

Like, every now and then when I go to Vegas, I'll play some craps, and I'll, you know, I'll play some roulette, but never gambled at anybody's house. Don't know anything about poker. I don't know what they're talking about when it comes to the Johnson thing. But I know Chauncey, I know Damon very well played with Damans. I don't want to sit up here,

but I'm ashamed that those guys would put their families and their careers in jeopardy. There's old saying in the hood. All money ain't good money. So if you're making $9 million and you're dealing in certain things, like how much more do you need?

Especially if you know you get caught, you can do jail time, lose your career. Yeah. How much money is enough money? And look, this is a problem. This is going to be a problem for the NBA all season long. Like I said, the fact that these players were linked to the mob and the mob, they have their fingers in a lot of pies. You've got to ask yourself, what was the money from this funding? Could this money have been funding, you know, sexual slavery, arms,

sales like who knows and this is going to fall the NBA all season long so we are going to be talking about that a lot over the course of the season next the legendary game show returns can you spot the BS stories that's next Friday, we like to have a little bit of, a little bit of sibling rivalry between me and my intrepid producer, Mike Droulet, not my brother, but, but my, my brother in, in arms here at the Ben Mulroney show. He took, he took to, um, he took to, um, like a, like a, a, a fish to water. Or is it a duck to water? I can't remember. But regardless. And he jumped in with both, both feet and, and in doing so. At times it's like a platypus to water, though. Well, in other

words, he made every segment a segment that needed a champion and needed a victor. He wanted the show to be the victor in every way, except this segment. In this segment, he wants me to lose and be embarrassed so that he can take a victory lap because I don't think he has a lot of joy in his life outside of this show. Lose and be embarrassed. He wants me humiliated, and it hasn't happened very often yet. And so, yes, so the war continues between Mike Droulet and myself in the game. We like to call, is it BS or is it real?

Where he tries to trick me up with fake stories and I, and my nose can't sniff them out. So I've been very good so far. One thing that has been consistent over the months that we've done this is that we use a little saucy language in the introduction. So I warn you, if you don't like four-letter words, just tune out. for a few minutes. In the meantime, we are going to have our great newsman here. Dave Bradley read the stories, and I have to determine, is it BS or is it real? See, now that's some bullshit. This is bullshit. Man, this is some bullshit. You want answers? I think I'm entitled. You want answers.

I want the truth. You can't handle the truth. You are fake news. You are fake news. every time. Okay, Dave Bradley, take it away with Story 1. In a breakthrough that sounds straight out of science fiction, researchers have safely tested a method that allows humans to absorb oxygen through the intestines, essentially breathing through the butt. The process involves delivering an oxygen-rich liquid through the rectum where it's absorbed into the body. The first human trial involving 27 healthy men found the procedure safe and well-tolerated, with only mild bloating reported. Scientists say the method could one day offer a backdoor way to supply oxygen when

lungs need a rest. All right. Remember the movie The Abyss? It was James Cameron. I think it was James Cameron, we can't remember. And the technology that they used with that, with the water, was adapted by the T2. You know, the liquid metal? and I remember in that

because they were going so deep in the water that as the story went it was impossible for the oxygen tanks to work when you would be outside of the habitat and so they used a liquid concoction like a thick liquid that filled the lungs and of course

you felt like you were drowning you were choking you were going to die until you weren't and then they were able to so all that to say that was I think in 19 I want to say 92 or something like that And I read that that technology existed. Okay, that technology existed back then. So I got to think it's advanced enough for this sort of nonsense.

And I do believe there was written, we use in the words back door and stuff, to take me off the track. All that to say, I think it's real. Is it possible this story is true? Yes, it is. See, anybody who scoffs at my past as somebody who followed movies, it has done me, done. I've done right by this game because of my knowledge in movies.

And you probably expect that I would put in something about breathing through the butt. Yeah, no, no. No, I just thought it was put there to take me off the scent. Ooh, the scent. The scent, if you will. Okay, Dave Bradley. Story number two, please. Concerns about AI surveillance in schools are growing after a 16-year-old Baltimore student was surrounded by armed police.

What an AI gun detection system mistook his Doritos bag for a firearm. The teen who was handcuffed at gunpoint said he feared for his life as officers responded to the false alert. The AI tool made by Omni Lurch scanned school cameras and automatically notifies police of potential weapons. While the company admitted it was a false positive, it defended the system as working as intended by prompting a rapid police response. The school district has since offered counseling but no Doritos to the student shaken by the incident. I don't think this one is real and I'll tell you why before I lock in my answer. I think the most important part of this story, which has, I mean, it could have been omitted, but I think it would be too important.

Wouldn't be about offering counseling to the kid. It would be how big of a lawsuit the family was bringing against the school, the school board, and the company that made this thing. I think this one is trying too hard. I say it's BS. A similar event did... Damn it! Yes, guy.

But you're right. You are right. They should have spoken a little bit more about the lawsuit because that'll happen. Yeah, it will happen. It will happen. And we're not talking about it. And you know, he's right to get it. Kid had Doritos in his bag and you accused him of being a...

You accused him of wanting to come in and shoot up the school. But they also better be giving him some free Doritos. Doritos might want to come and make an ad. By the way, I just tried the new collab ones. for stranger things, it's pizza flavor and cool ranch in the same bag? Oh, what? That was terrible. It's delicious.

Oh, God. Listen, I know that taste is subjective, but in this case, you're wrong. I think my insides turn. All right. It's the rubber match. It's one to one. Let's go to story number three, Dave. Canadian researchers may have found a way to turn winter weather into clean power.

A team at the University of Alberta has developed a flexible panel that generates electricity from the static charge created when snowflake. strike its surface. The experimental snow panel currently produces only small amounts of energy enough to charge small devices, but scientists say the technology could one day complement solar power in northern regions. The lead researcher is Dr. Mira van Catamaran, who says snow is full of electrical potential. They go on to say our goal is to capture that energy efficiently during winter months when solar power drops off. I'm going to say it's real and then I'm also going to say

that in about six months the company that created this is going to receive a $5 billion subsidy from the federal government to expand production across Canada and we're going to say if we don't reach our snow-powered green targets by 2035, there will be consequences.

I'm going to say it's real. A bullshit. Well, okay, you know what? In this case, I'm glad to be wrong. I'd put that one together and I would have guessed it was real. Yeah, of course, because Canada in 2025. Yeah. Okay, I've got to get back to 500 here because it's no bueno for me. It's very good gueno.

Yeah, it's no bueno for Ben Ben. Story number four, please. A young black bear caused to stir at the Sequoia Park Zoo, not by escaping, but by breaking in to meet the resident bears. The polite intruder stayed on the boardwalk, sniffed noses with zoo bears, played with their toys, and ignored humans entirely. Staff called it a very polite visit. While police joked, they were doing crowd control for a bear who doesn't understand railings. Eventually, a warden guided the bear back to the forest, leaving locals to speculate if it was looking for snacks, friends, or a job as an embarrassador.

Okay, that's terrible. That's terrible. and because it's written that way. I'm going to say it's real. It happened. You were correct. You know, and this is how I show you how I'm a real player. I played a win. I could have worked the clock.

And I could have said, we don't have time for the next one. Let's just end it at a, but we need a victor. We need a victor. So let's have the final. Story number five. A woman in West London says she was stunned after being fined 150 pounds for pouring the last sip of her coffee down a street drain while waiting for

a bus. The Turkish woman said she thought she was being responsible until three enforcement officers sprinted towards her and issued a ticket under environmental waste loss. She said it was just a few drops. The council insists the fine was proper saying coffee counts as a pollutant

discharge. The woman has filed a complaint saying she never imagined her morning latte could be treated as a criminal offense. This is tricky. It's tricky. I think this is written in a way that makes me want to think it's real because there's some stupid stuff happening in the UK. And I mean, like, dumbfoundingly stupid.

I'm going to say it's not. I'm going to say it's BS. It's fact. Bingo. Yeah. Oh, really? I don't know. That song just appeared.

All right. The movie, Back to the Future, predicted some wild stuff. Is it finally here? This podcast is sponsored by Better Help. If you've been following the news, like really following it, you know how exhausting it can be. Politics, conflict, uncertainty. It's a lot to carry. And for many men, there's this expectation to stay calm, stay in control, and not talk about how it's affecting you.

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and get great value that, you guessed it, come standard. Conditions apply. See dealer for details. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. It's a good day. It's a good day for a lot of reasons. The Blue Jays are in the World Series. And it feels like we are finally living in the future promised to us in Back to the Future too.

We were sold a bill of goods back in the day. We were told this is coming. It's all coming. And as a matter of fact, years ago, when I was a kid, I was 13, and I was so excited for the premiere of Back to the Future 2. So excited. I was following that production. Back, there was a magazine called Premier Magazine.

And I followed that. I read everything about that movie. One of the first times in history that the sequels were shot back to back. They did two and three. Made me very happy to know that the sequel is going to be finished. And then Robert Zemeckis decided to prime the pump and get people excited by doing a little mini documentary, getting people ready for Back to the Future too. Starring one of the most influential teens at the time, Kirk Cameron, before he made other choices in his life. He was a TV star.

And he told us in that documentary, Kirk Cameron, looked in the camera and told kids my age that those Mattel hoverboards, that literally hovered in the air, existed. He said that. And I believed him. And my dad was on his way to a summit in Asia. And I said, if anybody is living in the future, it's Japan. And I told my dad, I said, dad, Kurt Cameron just told me on TV that these hoverboards exist. I need you to come back from Japan with one.

And he did everything he could. He asked the trade minister if where he's, could find one of these. The trade minister must have thought my dad was crazy. He came home without one and it was only years later that Zemeckis admitted he was trolling little kids. Damn you, Robert Zemeckis. And so today we're living a little closer to that dream that was promised so many years ago. Nike has promised, as has just announced, something called the thermophyt Air Milano jacket. I guess it's going to be

the part of the uniform for Olympic athletes at the next winter Olympics. They're going to debut it there. Yes. It is the adaptive outerware piece that uses Nike's proprietary air technology to provide warmth and personalized

thermal controls for athletes. It allows the wearer to regulate the temperature by inflating or deflating the air within the baffles. There's a lot of technology here. But essentially, this exactly like the jacket, you remember the red jacket that Marty McFly had to wear as soon as they landed in the future, because so he could look exactly like his son, his near-do-well son, and he was completely wet from the rain. And so they pressed a button and it inflated and

there was some blow dryers in it. And then what's the line? Jacket is dry. Yeah. Yeah. So this is that. This is that. It puffs up. And it puffs up and it gets you warm. And it Possibly if you're a little wet under there, it gets you dry, just like Marty McFly in the future, which is no, is it the future still? Yeah, it is still technically the future. Yeah. Okay. They've also, in an effort to show how futuristic they are and innovative they are, they've got

This is the big thing. It's kind of cool. It's the Nike robot shoe. It is built with a partner, Defi, and the prototype, so it's a collab between Nike and Defi. The prototype uses a motor, a drive belt, and a rechargeable cuff battery that sync with a carbon fiber-plated shoes. Essentially what is, it looks like a running shoe with a brace on it that comes up mid-cath

and then loops around the calf. And Nike says it's designed for runners hitting around a 10 to 12-minute mile helping them go farther and faster with less effort. And it's essentially a second set of calf muscles. And if you thought that sounded cool, like essentially it's going to supercharge people.

Something tells me they will not be allowed in, say, marathons. But that's what we've been working on here in North America. China, light years ahead. They already have something like this called the HyperShell. It's a Chinese walking assistant system. Let's listen. Sport assist robot.

Yes. Okay. It's going to help you climbing, walking, running, and riding. So if I'm running, I can run faster? Yes, yes. No way. Get me on this thing. Start to walk

Walking normally Okay, I'm walking normally Oh my gosh It's like moving for me It's like easy walking So yeah And now listen We've seen this in the future too

Not necessarily in back to the future But we've seen versions of this In Edge of Tomorrow Avatar Avatar alien Like anytime there's an exoskeleton That's that we see it there I was in GI Joe

Which not a lot of people saw But GI Joe And look You could combine the high HyperShell with these Nike's, because it looks to me like where the hypershell ends, it ends at the mid thigh, and then you could put on the Nike's and mid-calf, and you could be a cyborg. Possibly, for sure.

Yeah, I think it's interesting. I mean, I saw this HyperShell thing a little while ago, and I was like, this can't be real. This is, it's bizarre, but you see people, they have videos of people using it on the Great Wall of China. Yeah. And like some elderly people who can't climb this thing because it's, you know, it's fairly hilly, obviously. And they put these things on and it helps them get around. I think it's a great idea. It's, look, it will democratize tourism in a lot of ways. It's going to help the elderly. Yeah. But what about, you know, what about tourism that requires you don't walk around the Louvre when you're not looking to steal anything? That's a big museum. And like even the healthiest of us need a nap after a lot. long day at a museum. And if you had a walking assist, and if you combined it with the chair pants, you know the chair pants? Someone created this in case you ever needed to sit and there's

no chair around. You've got these brackets, the back of your pants, and once you flip them open, you can just sit anywhere. So you have the assist plus the chair pants. You can sit or walk forever at your heart's content. That's a little much. So if you had your choice, your dress, others. I say you're, you know, you had, you know, your legs were weak, something happened, whatever, and you weren't able to walk along that distance. Which one of these things would you rather, where do you think? Well, I definitely would like to try the hyper shelf for sure. I'd love to try that, this idea of like, kind of, what does it feel like to be stronger and faster? Well, this, this influencer guy who was trying this out in China. Yeah. He said,

can I put the thing? Because when he was walking for him, that was at the low setting. He goes, what if I put it at maximum setting? And the guy goes, oh, I don't know. And he goes, he put it at maximum setting. And then he starts, he goes, it's running for me. I'm not even moving my legs and it's running for me. That's weird. And it looks like a fairly simple technology.

It doesn't have a lot of moving parts here. And it lasts a lot longer than you think. Well, but let me also suggest that there are military applications for stuff like this. They have them in the military already. In the future, in the movies in the future, these are always military. Standard military, right? No, they have some for the U.S. military. For the guys that have to carry a lot of stuff.

Yeah, that's right. That's right. But if you're going to be going up again, if you've got to march long distances, having something like this, and you know, you know their version of this is probably 10 times as good, probably 100 times as expensive.

Yes. But 10 times is good. Carbon fiber and everything. And at some point, there's going to be a fun tournament, like a basketball tournament, where somebody is wearing stuff like this, and they are leaping in ways

we've never seen a human being leap before. And as much as we've seen, everything we'll ever see with AI and special effects out of Hollywood, when you actually see something like that live and real, it's kind of cool, even if it is assisted by technology. I just wonder which one is better.

The one that helps you, the hyperlink one, which is around your waist, and it helps your knees, basically. It lifts your legs. Or the Nike one is just for the calves, right? Yeah. So that wouldn't be, I imagine that,

the hyperlink would help you more. Well, yeah, I think one's designed for like purely as a running play. And this one is for climbing and walking and like, if you're in the trades having something like this could be really helpful. Hopefully it makes a lot of noise like that mechanical noise when you walk. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, listen, all I'm saying is if this gets us closer to the promise of the future,

I'm all for it. And, and Kurt Cameron, you broke my heart. You broke a 13-year-old Ben Mulrudey's heart so many years ago. Thank goodness that technology is catching up so that I can let go of this anger. I can let go of this anger and we can walk together in a better world. Although, hey. I'm actually on Top Chef Canada. It's super surreal being here.

The search for Canada's Top Chef starts now. Let's go! Ten chefs are on a culinary quest. It tastes like fear, anxiety all at the same time, but delicious. Only one will be crowned. It's tough. One of the hardest things I've ever done. Two minutes!

Two minutes! Top Chef Canada, all new Tuesdays on Flavor Network. Stream on Stack TV.