Senate Committee Seeks Answers from NBA on Gambling Investigations

‘This is a matter of congressional concern,’ wrote Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell.

(L–R) Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former Cleveland Cavaliers' Damon Jones. AP Photo

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is seeking answers from the NBA regarding gambling scandals that have engulfed the league.

In an Oct. 27 letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the committee’s chairman, and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the committee’s ranking member, wrote that current and former NBA players and coaches have “compromised the game’s integrity.”

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was apprehended in relation to an illegal sports betting operation, while Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested in connection to a rigged poker scheme tied to the Gambino, Bonanno, and Genovese crime families.

Former NBA player Damon Jones was also apprehended. He was allegedly tied to both schemes.

“In light of the latest allegations of gambling-related corruption involving an NBA player, we write seeking more information about how the NBA investigated and handled these allegations as well as what steps the Association is taking to maintain the public’s trust,” wrote Cruz and Cantwell.

In the case involving Rozier, the defendants allegedly used insider information to make bets and profit, according to the indictment. This involved Rozier telling two co-defendants that he was going to remove himself from a game and not return, allowing his co-conspirators to place successful and fraudulent over-under bets on how many points he was going to score and other statistics.

Jones, as an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022–2023 NBA season, allegedly sold insider information to co-conspirators about a player not being on the court for a game ahead of the injury report being released to the public, according to the indictment. The player is believed to be Lakers superstar LeBron James, who has not been accused of wrongdoing. This allowed the bettors to make certain bets based on non-public information.

Billups is an unindicted co-conspirator in the rigging scheme where he sat key players for a Trail Blazers game against the Chicago Bulls. He had his team purposefully lose the game so that the team, which was out of playoff contention, could increase its chances of getting a higher draft pick, according to the indictment. The defendants bet on the Bulls winning the game based on the insider information they got.

Cruz and Cantwell acknowledged that the NBA has not had any role in rigging games and that the league has taken steps to combat fraudulent gambling by NBA players, such as banning former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for life for being connected to a betting scheme. Porter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to 15 months behind bars.

The senators noted the NBA found that Rozier did not violate league rules. Cruz and Cantwell asked to know about the specifics of the NBA’s investigation and why Rozier was allowed to still play on the court.

“This is a matter of Congressional concern,” wrote the lawmakers.

“The integrity of NBA games must be trustworthy and free from the influence of organized crime or gambling-related activity. Sports betting scandals like this one may lead the American public to assume that all sports are corrupt.”

Cruz and Cantwell requested documents created between Jan. 1, 2020, and the present regarding the NBA’s policies on sports betting, gambling, and game rigging; any investigation by the league for violating the NBA’s rules on those three issues; and communications between the NBA and betting platforms.

They also requested documentation between that time period regarding how the NBA plans to combat sports betting, gambling, and game rigging; and the final report and other documents relating to the league’s probe of Rozier.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the NBA for comment on the letter.

Talking to reporters, Cruz said that the NBA gambling scandal “poses a grave threat to the integrity of sports.”

He added that “prop bets in particular are an ongoing challenge, and I expect Congress and the Commerce Committee in particular to examine them closely.”

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.