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Congress is seeking information related to the FBI’s recent gambling and rigging investigation that incriminated three current and former gamblers.
The House Commerce Committee sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Friday requesting information and briefing related to the scandal that resulted in the federal indictments of Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones.
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks during a news conference before an NBA preseason basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors in Saitama, near Tokyo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file)
The bipartisan letter was signed by six members of Congress on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The committee is seeking five key points of information from Silver:
“1. Details of fraudulent, illegal, and alleged betting practices in connection with NBA players, coaches, and officials, including the actions of NBA players and coaches identified in the recent indictment; as well as prior cases, some of which are identified above.
“2. Actions that the NBA intends to take to limit the disclosure of non-public information for illegal purposes. 3. Whether the NBA Code of Conduct for Players and Coaches effectively prohibits illegal activities, including the disclosure of non-public information for the purposes of illegal betting schemes. 4. An explanation of the gaps, if any, in existing regulations that permit illegal betting systems. 5. If and how illegal betting systems are permitted. The NBA is re-evaluating the terms of its partnerships with sports betting companies,” the letter read.
The letter also references comments Silver made during a Tuesday appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” where the commissioner expressed support for increased federal regulation of sports betting.
“Frankly, I think there should probably be more regulation,” Silver said. “I wish there was federal legislation rather than state by state. I think you have to watch the amount of promotion, the amount of publicity around it.”
PK Press Club Digital has reached out to the NBA for a response to the letter.
THE Ministry of Justice has listed seven NBA games that resulted in high-stakes betting after non-public information was leaked to players.
Rozier’s alleged involvement came during a match on March 23, 2023, when he told a childhood friend, Deniro Laster, that he would withdraw from a match early, citing injury, so that Laster could place bets based on the information. Neither Hornets officials nor the betting companies were informed of Rozier’s plan, according to the indictment, and Rozier was not listed on the team’s injury report.
NBA LEGEND CHAUNCEY BILLUPS AND HEAT’S TERRY ROZIER ARRESTED IN FBI GAMING INVESTIGATION
Laster then allegedly sold this information to other co-conspirators, and numerous people placed bets totaling approximately $200,000 on Rozier’s “slot” bets to hit both parlay and straight bets. After Rozier played only nine minutes and never returned, the bets were won. Rozier and Laster counted the cash winnings at Rozier’s Charlotte home about a week later, the indictment says.
The DOJ says the player was ultimately ruled out due to a lower body injury – LeBron James did not play that night due to an ankle injury that kept him out two more games. The game in question took place two days after James scored 38 points to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Another game mentioned by the DOJ was a Portland Trail Blazers-Chicago Bulls game on March 24, 2023, the day after Rozier’s nine-minute game, where a co-conspirator, “an NBA coach at the time,” allegedly told a longtime friend, who is also a defendant in the rigged poker scheme, that the Blazers would be “tagging” that night for a higher draft pick and would sit some of the best players on the team. The rest of the players were not yet made public.
Rozier and Jones were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The NBA announced that Rozier and Billups had been placed on immediate leave from their teams, “and we will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities.”
“The integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said.
