The NBA has sent a letter to all 30 teams detailing what the league is doing to respond to the illegal gambling scandal that emerged last week following the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. The league is commencing an in-depth review of all betting-related issues to ensure the integrity of games can’t be questioned.
One of the big focuses will be on player prop betting, which allows people to wager on players’ statistical performances. The NCAA has long called for a ban on these types of markets for college sports due to the ease with which athletes could manipulate their outcomes.
current system allows teams to not reveal their true lineups until close to tipoff
The NBA is also looking at changing how teams publicly report injuries, as the current system allows teams to not reveal their true lineups until close to tipoff, which gives an edge to individuals with inside information.
There will also be a study into how the league might be able to use AI to identify suspicious betting that might indicate the use of insider information. In Monday’s letter, the NBA said that there’s “more that can be done from a legal/regulatory perspective to protect the integrity” of the sport.
