Kyle Kuzma Talks Hate Messages from Fans: 'Maybe They’re Bad at Picking the Parlays'

Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma tries to take a more lighthearted approach to the abuse he receives from fans who are upset with how he supposedly ruined one of their wagers.

"I don't really read the messages," he said to The Athletic's James L. Edwards III. "It might be on Twitter. I think it's really funny, honestly, because, yeah, you can win money, but you're also wasting money, too, at the same time. It's funny because I said something the other day, and it's like we get threats and we get called names, and people never think about like maybe they're bad at picking the parlays?"

Sports betting across the country has exploded ever since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018. Another trend has dovetailed with that as more and more fans place wagers on events.

The NCAA released in October the results of a pilot study finding that college athletes had received hundreds of abusive messages in connection to sports betting.

There are plenty of anecdotal accounts as well.

Knicks guard Josh Hart told Edwards he receives "everything" from frustrated bettors, including racial abuse and wishes for him to be physically harmed.

Knicks teammate Jalen Brunson said to Edwards that he has "never felt genuinely threatened, but there has been some really disrespectful s--t said."

MLB relief pitcher Paul Sewald told USA Today's Bob Nightengale in June he has received death threats toward him and his family from disgruntled bettors.

"It gets ugly really quickly. It’s scary, and it’s sad," Sewald said. "It used to be fans who were upset because you blew the game for the team, but now it’s gambling. These people don’t really care about the Diamondbacks. They just care about their bets, and we’re talking about money they don’t have that they are losing. So, it’s a very scary spot."

Logan Allen, another MLB reliever, told Nightengale that one fan even followed him home so that they could vent about how Allen supposedly "cost him all of this money."

Kuzma seems to let all of it roll off his back, and he's absolutely correct in that some introspection is required from bettors who are angry about the outcome of their parlay.

But Edwards' report lays out how this is a problem that will require more solutions beyond turning a cold shoulder.