What Gambling Has Done to Sports—and to Us

The Purdue University men’s basketball team was a favorite to win the 2024 national championship, but hardly anyone was paying attention to their walk-on guard Carson Barrett. After suffering a serious knee injury earlier that season, Barrett had postponed surgery so he could practice with the team, painful as it was, and cheer his teammates from the bench. In their first game of the March Madness tournament, Purdue cruised to victory, and in the closing minutes, both teams emptied their benches.