It’s not every day Congress sends a letter to the commissioner of a professional sports league regarding allegations centered around illegal gambling and sports rigging. However, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was the recipient of a letter dated October 24 on these exact topics from the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
The letter was sent one day after last week’s FBI crackdown in which 30-plus people were arrested. The list included Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier who was arrested for alleged illegal gambling.
According to the full letter, the Committee is requesting a brief from the NBA by October 31. There are five key topics the league is being asked to address. Here is an excerpt from the letter that covers the requests:
Besides Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was taken into custody for his alleged involvement in rigged poker games.
These incidents are the latest red flags surrounding gambling and the NBA. Last year, Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban after violating the league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors. The investigation also revealed that Porter influenced the outcome of one or more bets by pulling himself out of the game.
In 2008, prior to the Supreme Court overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to participating in an illegal sports betting scheme involving NBA games. He gambled on basketball games, some of which took place during the postseason.
As far as Rozier and Billups go, both have been suspended and placed on leave from their teams. The league still has until the end of the week to submit its brief to the Committee. Since the arrests, according to ESPN, the NBA has sent a memo to all 30 NBA teams covering the dire risks that gambling can impose.
ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania posted a copy of the memo on X. Here is part of what the it includes:
“We have begun a process of reviewing league policies regarding injury reporting, the training and education of all NBA personnel, and safety measures for all NBA players. With sports betting now occupying such a significant part of the current sports landscape, every effort must be made to ensure that players, coaches, and other NBA personnel are fully aware of the dire risks that gambling can impose upon their careers and livelihoods; that our injury disclosure rules are appropriate; and that players are protected from harassment from bettors.”
Time will tell if other professional sports leagues take a closer look at their policies as well following last week’s events.
