Donovan Mitchell and James Harden Latest to be Added to Bettors’ Fade Lists

Last Updated on November 5, 2025 8:36 am by admin

The 2025/26 NBA season has gotten off to a blistering start. On the court, the underdogs have taken the league by storm, with the Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs, three of the most unfancied teams before the first tip-off, all perfect through their first five games. The planet’s finest basketball league hasn’t been short on off-court drama either, but we’ll leave chatter on that to the professionals. 

Throughout October, the headlines haven’t just been about potential trades or whether aging superstars are past their best. Indeed, there have been some gobsmackers dominating every breaking-news chyron from Bristol to Manhattan. But over on X, a different investigation is underway, one that bettors will tell you is of paramount importance. 

Bettors Call the X Police Into Action

A real circus has unfurled in the TwitterVerse of late. Here, a new breed of detective has emerged—not the trench-coat types, but bettors armed with memes, sarcasm, and the bruised optimism of a thousand crumbled parlays. 

Their mission: exposure of a rather personal brand of betrayal—the inexplicable collapse of an NBA superstar, the very night you needed him most for your five-leg prop. The method? Some have gone as far as tagging very real law enforcement agencies in their posts, transforming score updates into comedy courtrooms, where every missed free throw or vanishing assist warranted a case file and a mock trial by fire.

Welcome to the digital age’s true crime saga: where superstardom meets statistical sabotage, and even basketball’s finest find themselves digitally most-wanted. The following four have not just let down their teams but, in gamblers’ eyes, committed an act of treason.

Donovan Mitchell

Let’s paint the scene: The Cavaliers stroll into TD Garden for an early-season litmus test against an entirely revamped Boston Celtics side unfavored by pretty much everyone, especially online betting sites. Anyone who has bet on NBA at Bovada will tell you that Beantown’s champions of 2024 are long gone, with the latest odds on them winning the championship for a record extending 19th time this season all the way out at +6000. 

A freshly returned from injury Donovan Mitchell was supposed to light up the Celtics like Times Square at midnight and lead his Cavs to a statement victory. And that looked as though it would come to fruition in the first half as the 29-year-old sank 15 points by intermission, including a perfect four-for-four from deep in the first quarter alone. Public money had already poured in on the over 25.5 points line, and it seemed as though punters were right to slam it at the interval, perhaps already counting their money.

But as the lights dimmed for quarter three, Mitchell morphed into Houdini. He didn’t just go cold—he disappeared from the stat sheet entirely. No points, a collection of botched bunnies, and a turnover that would make a high school JV coach wince. The Celtics duly emerged with a 125-105 victory, and X detonated. 

“Mitchell drops 15 by half vs Boston, then ghosts? investigate NOW.” Conspiratorial charts, memes depicting him as NBA witness protection—all went viral. For one surreal night, a superstar’s drought became a national punchline and a gambler’s Greek tragedy.

James Harden

If sports betting had a Mount Rushmore of villains, James Harden would be chiseled in stone, beard and all. On October 28 against the Warriors, the all-time great went thermonuclear—torching Golden State for 20 first-half points, putting the over 20.5 crowd in easy-chair ecstasy. But what followed was classic Beard: five second-half shot attempts, zero makes, benched as the Clippers collapsed. 

Harden’s playoff nightmares against GSW are well-documented—just 7-16 across their postseason encounters—but this was Hamlet-level dramatic irony. X dripped with exasperation. “‘Beard saw the parlays and said ‘psych’—investigate @JHarden13.” The numbers hammered home the betrayal—expected shot volume halved, off-ball movement reaching statue levels. Now, he’s on the fade list and not to be backed for the foreseeable future. 

Trae Young

Trae Young inspires the sort of trust issues best left to therapists. With his explosive ball-handling and 40+ PRA ceiling, Young is a parlay magnet—until the other Trae rears his head. After two straight games with fewer than 30 PRA, including a high-turnover clunker, the public vented: “Trae Young has personally cost me 7 parlays. Arrest him.”

Statistically, his assist rate cratered during these meme nights—from a 10.2 season average to a limp 7.4. The fallout was pure artistry: photoshopped mugshots, mock investigations, and real Atlanta fans volunteering to lead the investigation. Young’s volatility electrifies—just not always in the intended direction.

Josh Hart

Some NBA players break hearts with buzzer-beaters. Josh Hart does it with alleged rebounding. Once the bettors’ blue-collar hero, Hart’s 8.3 RPG from last year suddenly collided with a three-game stretch yielding only 12 combined boards. For those riding his 6.5 REB over, it was betrayal in its purest form.

Social platforms erupted: “Josh Hart is allergic to the glass— investigate!” Even as his floor hustle made him a fan favorite at MSG, the gambling masses rebranded him a parlay saboteur. The numbers? Not even a four-board night could soften the digital subpoenas. Knicks Twitter crafted a legendary copypasta—Hart may win games, but he’s yet to win back the trust of burned bettors.