The NBA, in response to last week's arrests of Miami guard Terry Rozier and Portland coach Chauncey Billups for their alleged roles in gambling, has begun reviewing how the league can protect not only the integrity of 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, emerging integrity issues in sports, and the emergence of new betting formats and markets, now is the right time to carefully re-evaluate how sports betting should be regulated and how sports leagues can best protect themselves, their players and their fans,” the memo sent by the NBA's legal department said.
Last week, two indictments were unsealed and federal officials arrested nearly three dozen people, most notably Billups and Rozier.
Rozier was arrested as federal officials allege he conspired with co-conspirators to help them win bets based on his statistical performance in a game played while he was with Charlotte on March 23, 2023. The charges are similar to those former Toronto player Jontay Porter faced before he was arrested. expelled from the league Commissioner Adam Silver in 2024.
Bookmakers discovered unusual betting patterns for the Charlotte game in question — bets involving Rozier were flagged and immediately reported to the NBA — and the league investigated the matter but did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that Rozier violated any rules.
“While an unusual bet on Terry Rozier's Unders in a March 2023 game was discovered in real time because the bets were placed legally, we believe more 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, proposed bets on the performance of individual players raise heightened concerns about fairness and require additional scrutiny.”
Christopher Raia, deputy director in charge of the FBI's New York office, spoke Thursday after law enforcement arrested 34 people on suspicion of involvement in what he called “two separate illegal poker and sports betting schemes” linked to Mafia crime families.
Monday's move followed several developments over the past week, including the NFL reminding players of its gambling policies, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred saying baseball was moving “as quickly as we can” regarding the investigation of two players in the sport, and a congressional committee asking NBA Commissioner Adam Silvera will hold a briefing by the end of this week to discuss topics such as “gaps, if any, in existing regulations that allow illegal betting schemes to occur.”
Silver has stated many times that he would prefer federal regulation of sports betting instead of the current state-by-state approach.
It was not clear Monday whether Silver would appear before the Energy and Commerce Committee, which requested the briefing in a letter signed by six members of Congress.
Among the things the league said Monday it would look into: injury reports. The league releases injury reports every hour, and teams are required to disclose player statuses at certain intervals before the next game. The NBA added injury reporting several years ago in the interest of transparency.
Injury statuses can be used by bettors to decide what bets to make – and if bettors get this information before the rest of the public, it amounts to insider trading. Former NBA player Damon Jones now faces charges after officials said he tipped off bettors about the health status of two Los Angeles Lakers players.
The details of this indictment clearly show that Jones discussed the availability of LeBron James and former Lakers center Anthony Davis with bettors before their statuses in certain games were publicly known. There is no indication that James or Davis knew what Jones was allegedly doing.
There have been other examples of similar tipping with other clubs, federal officials said.
“With sports betting now such a large part of the modern sports landscape, every effort must be made to ensure that NBA players, coaches and other personnel are fully aware of the dire risks that gambling can pose to their careers and livelihoods; that our injury disclosure policies are appropriate; and that players are protected from harassment by players,” the memo states.
The league also said it is looking for input from teams if they have any ideas on how best to proceed moving forward.
