The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball

The book goes into great detail regarding the life and times of Jack Molinas and his effect on the world of Basketball in the early fifties. I was a High School Classmate of Mr. Molinas so the book was of great interest to me. He was an exceptional player and met a tragic end most likely due to his earlier gambling connections.

Born to a great family and blessed with amazing athletic prowess, Jack Molinas just couldn't go straight. Brilliant by all standards of measurement, he seemed to have absolutely no way to determine right from wrong, and would always lie, cheat, or steal if he could get away with it. He developed a love of gambling early in his life, and would do anything to win in his lifetime obession with sports betting. If he couldn't bribe or convince a player to throw a game, he would spike their food to make them too sick to play. He would stop at nothing to get his way. Even an unpleasant prison term didn't stop him, and he died in a hail of bullets at his Hollywood Hills home at the hands of other criminals and sociopaths. An awesome book full of detail for the sports fan and lover of true crime stories.

Besides being well over six feet tall, Jack Molinas stood above the basketball competition he faced in other ways. His I.Q. was a whopping 175 and he used his native itelligence and skills on the court to fix college games for Columbia during the 50's. Later on, he was suspended from the N.B.A in his rookie season for working the same scams there. The culmination came with the basketball scandals of the early 60's and his arrest and subsequent five-year prison sentence. After leaving the 'big house' he turned his talents to upholding the law by becoming a renowned lawyer. He had spent his life manipulating and lying to people so it seemed a natural fit that he eventually moved to California with a girl friend and became a porn producer. Ultimately, his mob ties from his fix days and shady connections caught up with him however. Apparently, he had welshed on sports bets to bookies connected with La Cosa Nostra. Obviously, a very dumb thing to do for someone gifted with his level of intelligence. He was shot by unknown assailents in his home in 1974. Clearly, out of all the people he cheated in his life, the author of this book makes very clear that the person he ultimately short-changed the most was himself.

Once I started this book, I could not put it down. Jack was a person with a great deal of athletic and intellectual talent. However, I thought he blurred the line between life and the game of basketball. I was never interested in sports when I was growing up, but this book has certainly sparked my interest. It was a mind opening experience.How did I come to read this book, considering my lack of interest in sports? I heard it reviewed on Nat'l. Public Radio. When I heard the name Jack Molinas, I remembered an athletically inclined boy that attended PS 33 and PS 79 with me. My memories of him in school were good so I think of his life as he felt compelled to live it as a tragedy.

In a historical sense, this book is a continuation of a story Charley Rosen wrote about in "Scandals of 51". The life story of Jack Molinas, a central figure in the college basketball scandals, reads alternately like a novel and a reporter's notebook, and keeps you glued wondering what will happen next. Charley Rosen includes all the names involved, directly and peripherally, including the denials. There are surprises at every turn, whether its Jack Molinas childhood, his time in prison, or his business dealings. It makes you realize how easy it would be to have history repeat itself. An interst in basketball is not crucial. If you are interested in true crime, or just a fascinating true story, you will enjoy this book and learn some history in the process.