In response to the arrests last week of Miami guard Terry Rozier and Portland coach Chauncey Billups for their alleged involvement in gambling schemes, the NBA has begun examining how the league can protect the integrity of not only the game, but also its players and coaches.
The league made the revelations in a memo sent to all 30 teams, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
“Given the proliferation of legal betting in most U.S. states, the reemergence of integrity issues across all sports, and the emergence of novel betting formats and markets, this is an opportune time to carefully consider how sports betting should be regulated and how sports leagues can best protect themselves, their players and their fans,” said the memo, sent by the NBA’s legal department.
Meanwhile, the search for answers reached Washington lawmakers in the Senate on Monday after a House committee asked the NBA for information last week.
Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on that panel, want information on “how the NBA investigated and addressed these allegations and what steps the association is taking to maintain public trust.”
Their specific questions center on why the league is investigating Rozier and the events surrounding a game on March 23, 2023, when he was with the Charlotte Hornets.
“This committee must understand the details of the NBA’s investigation and why Rozier was permitted to continue playing basketball,” Cruz and Cantwell wrote. “This is a concern for Congress. The integrity of NBA games must be trusted and free from the influence of organized crime or gambling-related activities. Sports betting scandals like this could lead the American public to believe that all sports are corrupt.”
They asked Commissioner Adam Silver to provide answers by November 10th.
Last week, two indictments were dropped and nearly three dozen people — primarily Billups and Rozier — were arrested by federal agents.
Rozier was arrested because federal officials accuse him of conspiring with partners to lend a hand them win bets based on his statistical performance in that game in March 2023. The charges are similar to those faced by former Toronto player Jontay Porter before he was banned from the league by Silver in 2024.
Sportsbooks discovered unusual patterns in betting on the game in question in Charlotte – prop betting involving Rozier was reported and immediately brought to the attention of the NBA – and the league investigated the matter, but did not find enough evidence to conclude that Rozier had violated any rules.
“While the unusual bets on Terry Rozier’s ‘Unders’ in the March 2023 game were detected in real time because the bets were placed legally, we believe there is more that can be done from a legal/regulatory perspective to protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliated leagues,” the league told its teams. “In particular, proposition bets on the performance of individual players raise heightened integrity concerns and require additional scrutiny.”
Monday’s moves follow several developments over the last week, including the NFL reminding players of its gambling policies, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s statement that baseball is moving “as quickly as possible” on an investigation into two players in the sport, and a congressional committee asking Silver for a briefing by the end of this week on issues such as “gaps, if any, in existing regulations that allow for the emergence of illegal gambling.” “Enable betting systems” to be discussed. Silver has said multiple times that he would prefer federal regulation of sports betting to the current federal approach.
It was not clear Monday whether Silver would appear before the Energy and Commerce Committee, which had requested the briefing in a letter signed by six members of Congress.
Among the things the league announced Monday it will take a look at: injury reports. The league releases an injury report every hour and teams are required to disclose players’ status within certain windows before their next game. For the sake of transparency, the NBA added the injury report a few years ago.
Injury status can be used by bettors to decide which bets to place – and giving players this information before the rest of the public amounts to insider trading. Former NBA player Damon Jones is now facing charges after officials said he informed bettors about the health status of two Los Angeles Lakers players. The details in this indictment clearly show that Jones spoke to bettors about the availability of LeBron James and former Lakers center Anthony Davis before their status for certain games was made public. There is no indication that James or Davis had any knowledge of what Jones allegedly did.
There are other examples of such tipping at other clubs, federal officials said.
“Because sports betting has now become such a significant part of the current sports landscape, every effort must be made to ensure that players, coaches and other NBA employees are fully aware of the enormous risks that gambling can pose to their careers and livelihoods; that our injury disclosure rules are appropriate; and that players are protected from harassment by bettors,” the memo said.
The league also said it is seeking input from teams if they have ideas on how best to proceed in the future.
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