Despite league efforts to shove the issue out of public sight, a brand new sports betting scandal arose with the banning of a former Sacramento Kings employee.

NBA Commissioner David Stern insisted the sports betting scandal that ousted disgraced referee Tim Donaghy was a rogue, one-time incident. Now comes the tale that Sacramento Kings assistant director of scouting Jack Mai have been barred from the league for wagering on sports.

According to reports by Yahoo! Sports, the NBA informed clubs that Mai had bet on NBA games, and was permanently banned from working in any capacity with a member team. The NBA said the betting was just for small amounts and between Mai and his friends, and there supposedly were little need of influence in corrupting games.

According to league sources, Mai even bet on games involving the Kings, and had bet on them now and then to lose. Yahoo! said the sources say Mai have been betting on sports and Kings games particularly for years.

“We take this matter very seriously, and we fully cooperated with the NBA’s investigation,” said a press release released by the Kings. The Kings are owned by the Maloof family, which also owns the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Mai have been released by the Kings within the spring of this year. Rumors of inappropriate equipment deals with Asian basketball teams and associations surfaced regarding his dismissal.

When contacted by Yahoo!, Mai said only that he had resigned.

Published on November 25, 2009 by PrestonLewis

Read More... [Source: Sports Betting News]