NBA gambling indictment sparks review by basketball league

The National Basketball Association told its 30 teams on Monday that it was launching a broad review of betting-related matters to “protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliated leagues” in the wake of the bomb. federal indictment An allegation that confidential information about players was being leaked to gamblers.

The review will focus specifically on proposition bets offered by legal online sports betting companies, which allow gamblers to bet on the statistical performance of individual players, according to a memo from the NBA to its teams obtained by CNBC.

In addition to prop betting, the league will also examine how player injuries are publicly reported and explore ways to improve the use of artificial intelligence and other tools to identify betting patterns that suggest gamblers may have access to inside information about players and teams, according to the declaration.

The memo, from NBA General Counsel Rick Buchanan and the league’s vice president of governance and policy Dan Spillane, was addressed to the NBA board of directors, team presidents, general managers and team consultants.

A Miami Heat player was among six people named in the indictment unsealed last week in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York. Terry Rozier. Rozier and others are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

The indictment states that “the defendants and some of their co-conspirators had access to private information known to NBA players or NBA coaches, and shared that information with others who used that information to place profitable bets with companies including FanDuel and DraftKings, the league’s official sports betting partners.”

Rozier is accused of notifying his longtime friend, who plays for the Charlotte Hornets, in March 2023 that he planned to leave the game early “due to an alleged injury.”

His friend and two other men charged in the same indictment then allegedly used that information to place prop bets totaling more than $200,000 that Rozier would underperform in certain areas of the game, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn said Thursday.

Prosecutors said Rozier left the game after just nine minutes and “reaped most of the bets, making tens of thousands of dollars in profit.”

Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, denied any wrongdoing by the actor and said: “Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight and looks forward to winning it.”

“While unusual bets on Terry Rozier’s ‘lowers’ in March 2023 were detected in real time because the bets were made legally, we believe there is more that can be done from a legal/regulatory standpoint to protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliated leagues,” the NBA said in Monday’s memo.

“In particular, proposition bets on individual player performance involve high integrity concerns and require additional scrutiny,” the memo said.

“We have also begun the process of reviewing league policies regarding injury reporting, education and training of all NBA personnel, and safety measures for NBA players,” the statement said.

“Given that sports betting currently occupies such a significant portion of the current sports landscape, every effort must be made to ensure that players, coaches and other NBA personnel are fully aware of the serious 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 statement said. It was said.

“We are also exploring ways to enhance our existing internal and external integrity monitoring programs to better use AI and other tools to synthesize all data from betting operators, social media and other sources and identify relevant betting activity,” the statement said.

Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups, a Basketball Hall of Famer as a player, appears to be an unnamed “Conspirator 8” named in the same indictment charging Rozier.

Billups is not criminally charged in this case, but details in the indictment describe Co-Conspirator 8’s NBA playing and coaching career, which overlaps with Billups’.

The indictment states that Co-Conspirator 8 told a defendant named in the indictment in March 2023 that the Trail Blazers planned to forfeit a game against the Chicago Bulls, thereby increasing the Trail Blazers’ chances of making a better pick. NBA draft.

The indictment alleges that the Trail Blazers lost that game after the informants placed approximately $100,000 in bets with legal online bookmakers.

Invoices are charged separately Federal indictment in Brooklyn It accuses him of participating in a scheme with alleged mob members to defraud unwitting players of millions of dollars in underground poker games with high-tech cheating devices.

“Chauncey Billups never, ever gambled on basketball games, gave inside information or compromised the trust of his team and the League, as this would tarnish the game to which he has devoted his life,” Billups’ attorney Chris Heywood told NBC News last week.

Heywood also denied any wrongdoing by Billups in the poker-related indictment, saying: “Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows that he is an honest man; honest men do not deceive or defraud others.”

Both Billups and Rozier were placed on leave from their teams by the NBA following their arrests on Thursday.

In October 2024, following questionable betting allegations regarding the performance of Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, the NBA ordered its gambling partners and other operators to eliminate prop bets on the lowest-paid players, especially those on two-way or 10-day contracts, as Porter did.

The league said at the time that these players could be more vulnerable to manipulation. Porter pleaded guilty in July 2024 in Brooklyn federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Matt King, CEO of Fanatics Betting and Gaming, told CNBC on Monday that the sports betting company is in constant communication with sports leagues on integrity and regulation issues.

“When the league asked us not to offer support to players on two-way contracts … we did so immediately,” King said.

“This is common sense regulation, common sense evolution, and a common sense decision.”