The NBA issued a memo to its teams late last week, informing them of steps that are being taken to limit the amount of inside information that can potentially be leaked.
This, of course, comes on the heels of the Jontay Porter scandal, the ongoing Terry Rozier and Damon Jones cases, and a case involving Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.
According to an ESPN report, the NBA will soon mandate that teams issue a game-day injury report between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time, and then provide updates every 15 minutes if anything changes.
This move is a direct result of the scandals rocking the league, as Rozier and Jones are both charged with sharing injury information with bettors.
In the Rozier case, federal investigators zeroed in on a March 23, 2023 game against New Orleans. Rozier, then a starter averaging 35 minutes a night for the Charlotte Hornets, left after just nine minutes and 34 seconds with a reported foot injury. Sportsbooks in multiple states had already flagged unusual betting activity on Rozier’s props before tipoff, including, according to ESPN, 30 wagers totaling nearly $14,000 placed in under an hour by a professional bettor, all on the under for Rozier’s points, rebounds, and assists.
Rozier, now 31, never played another game for Charlotte. He was traded to Miami in January 2024.
The investigation that caught Rozier, dubbed “Operation Nothing But Bet,” is the same one that exposed Porter’s scheme to manipulate prop bets for gamblers across at least seven games in 2023 and 2024. Porter, now banned from the league, pleaded guilty.
‘Co-Conspirator 8’ and more
As for Billups, he was not indicted in the above cases, but does match the description of “Co-Conspirator 8,” who before a March 24, 2023 game allegedly told a gambler tied to the above that the Trail Blazers would be resting their starters to tank for future draft positioning.
And in an effort to combat that behavior, the memo from the NBA states the league is reviewing the draft lottery rules.
“This review remains ongoing and we will continue to solicit input from relevant team stakeholders as this work proceeds,” the memo states.
Additionally, the league is planning to ramp up its push to limit certain prop bets. The league wants to put limits on how much can be bet, limit how many players are available to bet on, get rid of bets that are settled on a single action, and limit what props are available for betting unders.
“Core to the NBA’s position is that sports leagues should have control over the types of bets offered on their games,” the memo states. “Because leagues currently do not have such control, any changes will need to be pursued via negotiation with sports betting operators, requests to state gaming regulators, legislative action, or some combination of these avenues.”
