NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday he was “deeply disturbed” about federal indictments involving illegal sports gambling in his league.File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for the first time commented on federal indictments of illegal gambling involving a current player and coach, saying he was “deeply disturbed” about the allegations.
On Thursday, two schemes were detailed, one involving NBA games and online sports betting, and another cheating at illegal poker games.
The 32 arrests included Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
“There’s nothing more important to the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition,” Silver said in a halftime interview during Friday’s Boston Celtics-New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. “And so I had a pit in my stomach. It was very upsetting.”
Silver said that a league investigation was prompted after legal sportsbooks picked up unusual behavior around a game two years ago between the host New Orleans Pelicans and the Charlotte Hornets.
“Because bets were placed through legal betting companies, they picked up aberrational behavior around a particular game in March of ’23,” Silver, who has been NBA commissioner since 2014, said in the interview. “So that was brought to our attention by the regulators and the betting company. We then looked into that situation, and we were very transparent about it. While there was that aberrational betting, we frankly couldn’t find anything.
“Terry, at the time, cooperated and gave the league office his phone. He sat down for an interview. We ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence — despite that aberrational behavior — to move forward.”
With the FBI taking over the cases two years ago, Silver said the NBA has been cooperating with law enforcement.
“The federal government has subpoena power, can threaten to put people in jail, can do all kinds of things that the league office can’t do. We’ve been working with them since then.”
The Department of Justice filed two separate indictments: one on illegal sports betting and one relating to rigged poker games.
In all, 34 people were indicted in the two cases, including 31 indictments in a poker game and six in the NBA betting case. Three charged in the NBA case are also named in the poker case.
Rozier and five others are accused of exploiting confidential information about players and teams so others could make bets. FBI Director Kash Patel likened it to insider trading.
Rozier allegedly tipped off a friend about plans to prematurely leave a game in 2023. Members of the betting ring placed multiple prop bets totaling more than $200,000 on his unders, meaning less than the listed minutes played.
Rozier ended up playing just nine minutes and 34 seconds, scoring 9 points, getting 2 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 three-pointer. His unders cashed.
Rozier did not play in the Hornets’ final eight games of the season.
Prosecutors said Billups was a “Face Card,” a high-profile figure used to attract gamblers to rigged games.
Lawyers for Billups and Rozier have denied the allegations.
Billups and Rozier have been placed on indefinite leave. Tiago Splitter has been named the interim coach of the Trail Blazers.
Former player and coach Damon Jones was indicted in both cases. Prosecutors allege Jones used his proximity to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2022-2023 NBA season to give out non-public information. And he is accused of participating in a scheme to stage rigged, illegal poker games in New York City.
On Friday, the U.S. House Committee on Commerce asked for a briefing from Silver no longer than this Friday.
“These allegations raise serious concerns about sports betting and the integrity of sport in the NBA, which harms fans and legal sports bettors,” said the letter, which was signed by six Republican and Democratic members of the committee, including Chair Brett Guthrie.”The Committee has jurisdiction over interstate commerce, consumer protection and sports.”
The letter noted there have been past gambling incidents.
In 2007, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to federal charges for using insider information to bet on games he officiated.
Last year, Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA for life after pleading guilty to wire fraud conspiracy due to his involvement in a sports betting scandal. Porter prematurely exited games he was scheduled to play so that conspirators could place winning bets.
In 2018, sports betting became legal in states other than Nevada in a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Currently, 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have legal betting.
NBA players are not allowed to bet on any NBA-affiliategames games, though other sports are legal. This week,the NCAA allowed college players to bet on pro sports.
