The league needs to assess its gambling policy.
National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver and the 30 NBA owners have a crisis on their hands. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were arrested along with former NBA player Damon Jones in a nationwide investigation that included the arrests of more than 30 people across 11 states on charges including wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery and illegal gambling. The NBA has placed both Billups and Rozier on paid leave. Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using insider NBA information. As part of the scheme, gamblers used nonpublic information to bet on at least seven NBA games between March 2023 and March 2024 involving the Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors, according to the indictment. Billups was charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families, authorities said. Jones, who worked as an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-23 NBA season, allegedly sold inside information to bettors.
Silver and NBA owners have said next to nothing about the arrests. Silver and the owners have a major problem. How do you make sure that all the games are bona fide contests? The NBA and college basketball have survived major betting scandals over the past seven decades. Jontay Porter was permanently banned from the NBA in April 2024 for violating league gambling rules. Malik Beasley is currently under investigation by the league for gambling allegations linked to a federal probe. Sports owners have embraced sports gambling, they make money from marketing partnerships. Now, the NBA is in crisis mode.
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Chauncey Billups
