Here’s Why Bettors Are Angry With DraftKings Over Franz Wagner Free Throws

Betting on player props has forever changed the NBA. What used to be relatively meaningless statistics to fans have all of a sudden become events that are sometimes collectively worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. A questionable rebound awarded to the team instead of a player might be the difference between 10 guys on a parlay discord collecting $50,000 and collecting $0.

Night after night, bettors shout on X (formerly Twitter) pleading with the NBA and sportsbooks to reflect what they apparently saw.

Well, Wednesday night’s game between the Orlando Magic and the Houston Rockets provided the perfect storm of sorts.

Magic player Franz Wagner, sitting at 17 points scored, made two free throws. The official scorer mistakingly awarded those two points to Franz's younger brother, Moritz Wagner, who also plays for the Magic.

The total points prop for Franz Wagner last night was 17.5 points scored. He should have been recorded as scoring 19 points. The NBA issued a correction. But before the correction, which a DraftKings official says came postgame, Franz Wagner ended the game at 17 points scored on the box score.

And here’s where it gets complicated.

Franz Wagner did indeed score 19 points. But if the official box score ends at 17 and is later corrected to 19, house rules at most books actually say that the final uncorrected score is what gets graded.

So this morning, when DraftKings bettors woke up, those who had over 17.5 points on Franz saw the “L” in their betslip.

Settling the bets so fast after the game is, most of the time, a great experience for the bettor, but, in this case, DK didn’t think a reversal would set a good precedent.

A DraftKings spokesman confirmed that those who bet the over 17.5 will ultimately “win,” as the sportsbook is depositing what would have been winnings in the account of the over bettor.