Molinas v. National Basketball Association
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
190 F.Supp 241 (1961)
Jack Molinas (plaintiff), a player for the NBA's Fort Wayne (later Detroit) Pistons, admitted he had regularly bet on his own team to win games, profiting around $400, in violation of the league's constitution and his own contract's anti-gambling clauses. NBA Commissioner Maurice Podoloff suspended Molinas indefinitely and repeatedly refused to reinstate him over the following years, calling him a 'cancer to the league,' even after Molinas went on to graduate law school and be admitted to the New York bar. Molinas sued the NBA, arguing its gambling rule and refusal to reinstate him constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade in violation of antitrust law.
Whether a professional sports league or association violates antitrust laws when it adopts and enforces strict rules against gambling by its players.