In the wake of an FBI gambling sting last week that saw the arrests of Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier, the NBA believes the league can better protect its integrity when it comes to sports betting.
ESPN’s Shams Charania obtained a memo sent by the league office to all 30 teams on Monday that outlines the next steps to be taken, including further scrutiny on injury reporting.
“Given the spread of legal betting to the majority of U.S. states, the recurrence of integrity issues across sports, and the emergence of novel betting formats and markets, this is an opportune time to carefully reassess how sports betting should be regulated and how sports leagues can best protect themselves, their players, and their fans,” the memo begins.
The memo notes that the unusual betting on Rozier’s “unders” in March of 2023 was immediately found because it was done legally, there are further steps the league from a regulatory perspective, especially in the realm of prop bets.
“We have also begun a process of reviewing league policies regarding injury reporting, the training and education of all NBA personnel, and safety measures for NBA players,” the memo continued. “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.”
Billups, the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Rozier, now of the Miami Heat, were both placed on immediate leave upon their arrests this past Thursday.