Russell Westbrook falls just short of a double-double after stat correction in NBA betting controversy

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Every individual play in professional sports is dissected at a microscopic level, meaning the smallest of margins could cost bettors millions of dollars.

It’s enough to make you go crazy.

On Tuesday, a group of bettors went wild after they wagered on Russell Westbrook to record a double-double against the 76ers (+390, FanDuel).

The wager has garnered scrutiny from bettors as the Nuggets guard would have been credited with having 10 ᴀssists initially before a stat correction removed an ᴀssist on a first-quarter pᴀss to Nikola Jokic on a layup.

The pᴀss was corrected at the end of the first quarter to just a field goal for Jokic, as the ball may or may not have been tipped by forward Guerschon Yabusele.

One bettor, @RioStaysTrue, posted on social media his $10 parlay, which consisted of Westbrook to get a double-double along with LeBron James to get a triple-double (+550) and Josh Hart to record 8+ rebounds (+350) at +14232 odds that would have netted a $1,433.25 payout.

The Hart and James legs of the bet both cashed.

Many bettors flooded in with similar betting tickets, including two others, with one worth $2,762.50 and another that would have paid out $2,423,43.

What happened next was bizarre, as bettors who were upset with the NBA statisticians for probably correctly changing Westbrook’s pᴀss to a non-ᴀssist flooded the NBA Stats email, pleading for a re-correction to the official record as bets were officially graded as a loss.

“I have posted this on my X account and 100,000+ people wanting this fixed. Russell Westbrook had not one, but two ᴀssists graded as ᴀssists and then incorrectly taken away. Please see the videos below and do the right thing for the community. Thank you so much,” one email posted on X read.

However, the NBA confirmed to The Post that two ᴀssists were not stat corrected, just the one that occurred in the first quarter and none happened after the game as insinuated in that email.

Still, the idea of angry bettors messaging the leagues to update outcomes and change stats is a bizarre response and a slippery slope down the already dangerous road of sports gambling.

When reached by phone, an NBA spokesperson confirmed that there would be no re-correction, meaning Westbrook ended the game with nine ᴀssists instead of the elusive 10th.

The NBA, via the official NBA Statisticians Manual, defines an ᴀssist as follows.

“An ᴀssist should not be credited on a play in which the pᴀss does not directly lead to a field goal. If the shooter makes more than one move following receipt of the pᴀss, this should be construed as not being a continuous action after receiving the pᴀss and, therefore, no ᴀssist should be given. In addition, an ᴀssist should not be credited on a play in which a defender deflects and/or taps the ball which leads to a made field goal.”

With the ball being tipped, this is ruled as a non-direct pᴀss, although it’s a really close call made on the thinnest of margins.

That’s how it goes in gambling. People will lose their minds over losing hard-earned money on a game of inches, sometimes centimeters.

DraftKings told The Post that Westbrook to record a double-double was the 11th-most bet-on prop of the entire sports betting market Tuesday, while it ranked 130th at BetMGM.