Mavs hire Haralabos Voulgaris

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ks-director-quantitative-research-development

In another example of how dramatically the NBA's embracing the gambling industry, the Dallas Mavericks are hiring former professional sports gambler Bob Voulgaris as director of quantitative research and development, league sources told ESPN.

For years, Voulgaris made a living betting on NBA games, successfully wagering based on his research and information. Voulgaris is known for his deep analytics and expertise on coaching strategy and tendencies of individual referees.

Voulgaris created a popular NBA Twitter following at @haralabob, where he regularly dispensed basketball information, opinions and data.

In part, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is expected to utilize Voulgaris as a strategic thinker who will help examine on-court strategy in big picture ways.

The state-by-state legalization of sports gambling has inspired the NBA and teams to better harness information and betting expertise to create revenue, and advance the gathering of information.​

 

Dallas Mavericks have parted ways with Haralabos Voulgaris

Haralabos “Bob” Voulgaris and the organization have parted ways, a league source confirmed. The source stressed that Vougaris, hired in 2018 as director of quantitative research and development, was not fired. His contract expired and was not renewed by new president and general manager Nico Harrison.

Thus answers the lingering, most-asked, non-player-related offseason question among fans and media: “What about Bob?”

Voulgaris’ departure isn’t surprising, considering the issues regarding him raised shortly after last season in a story in The Athletic, which portrayed former professional gambler Voulgaris as having usurped the power of longtime president and general manager Donnie Nelson.

Subsequently, owner Mark Cuban and sources within the organization refuted The Athletic’s characterization of how much authority Voulgaris actually had, but within days Nelson was forced out and coach Rick Carlisle resigned.

Though the exact level of last season’s dysfunction within the organization remains unclear, there is no doubt Voulgaris was a polarizing figure.

Depending on whom you ask, he either was a genius who consistently delivered “next-level” analytics intel or he was the Mavericks’ Yoko Ono, with an abrasive personality that sometimes rankled.

When Harrison and coach Jason Kidd were hired on June 28, the question became: Was Voulgaris’ intel worth the distraction and unflattering perception that his continued presence might cause?

Though the answer seemed logical and clear, Cuban further fanned the mystery surrounding Voulgaris’ employment status when asked to clarify it during the Harrison-Kidd introductory news conference on July 15: “I don’t talk about anybody who is on or off the payroll. Never have, never will.”

On July 26, nearly a month after his hiring, Harrison said during an appearance on 1310 The Ticket [KTCK-AM] that he had yet to meet Voulgaris and did not know his contract status.

“I understand how much chaos he’s caused,” Harrison said that day. “I really don’t even want to get into it about him, I really just focus on the people that are here and who we’re working with.”

That answer seemed pretty indicative enough of Voulgaris’ status, and a source now confirms it.