The NBA is reviewing its policies to make sure players are aware of the “serious risks” of bettingaccording to a memo that he would have sent to the teams this Monday due to the illegal betting scandal that exploded last week.
The memo, obtained and revealed by ESPN, comes four days after FBI agents arrested Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups on Thursday.
Former player and assistant coach Damon Jones, among others, was also arrested following an investigation into illegal sports betting.
Rozier was arrested for illegal sports betting, Billups for his involvement in illegal poker games and Jones for his involvement in both cases, according to the FBI investigation.
The Miami point guard and Portland coach were temporarily suspended by the NBA and have denied the allegations through their lawyers.
According to the ESPN report, the basketball league indicated in the memo that it had begun “reviewing the league’s policies regarding injury reporting, training and education of all NBA personnel, and safety measures for players.”
“With sports betting such a large part of today’s sports landscape, we must do everything we can to ensure that players, coaches and other members of the NBA are fully aware of the serious risks that betting can pose to their careers and livelihoods,” he said.
We must ensure that “our rules on injury disclosure are appropriate and that players are protected from harassment by bettors,” the document added.
Analysis with AI
The review includes analysis of how artificial intelligence (AI) and other tools can help detect improper activity.
“We are also exploring ways to enhance our internal and external integrity monitoring programs to better use AI and other tools to synthesize all available data from betting operators, social media and other sources, in order to identify suspicious betting activity,” the NBA said.
Rozier was accused of participating in a scheme involving betting on individual statistics in a game in March 2023, when he played for the Charlotte Hornets.
An indictment indicates that he told a friend that he was leaving the game against the New Orleans Pelicans early and that this information was allegedly sold to gamblers.
Betting on individual statistics requires greater intervention from legal and regulatory authorities, according to the NBA memo.
“We believe more can be done from a legal and regulatory perspective to protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliated leagues,” the memo states.
“In particular, bets on individual player performance raise greater integrity concerns and require additional scrutiny.”
Billups, for his part, is accused of participating in rigged poker games and using his fame to lure other players into these games, where high-tech cheating methods were used to ensure they lost.
