Earlier, more frequent injury reports
Following discussions with teams and the league’s board of governors, the NBA has issued a memo to all teams outlining potential steps to reduce the negative impact sports betting has on games, players, and coaches.
The talks come in the wake of gambling scandals involving the Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier and Portland Trailblazers head coach Chauncy Billups. Rozier was accused of intentionally leaving a 2023 game early with a fake injury after telling bettors before the game that he would do so in order for them to win money betting on his “under” prop bets. Billups allegedly told gamblers non-public information about player injuries and was allegedly involved in rigged poker games run by members of the Mafia.
To combat insider injury information, the NBA intends to require teams to submit injury reports on game day between 11:00am and 1:00pm and then update them every 15 minutes. Injury report deadlines have been closer to game time; the change would provide the public the information earlier and more often, thus reducing the chances of someone acting upon hidden injury info for betting purposes.
Prop bet scandals a stain
The league also wants to take action on prop bets, including making the sportsbooks impose stricter wagering limits, getting rid of props that are dependent on a single play, and reducing the number of player props available, particularly those on the “under.”
“Core to the NBA’s position is that sports leagues should have control over the types of bets offered on their games,” ESPN reports the memo as stating. “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.”
“Under” player props are among the easiest for athletes to manipulate, especially in basketball. The most obvious way for players to help their co-conspirators win money gambling is to do what Rozier allegedly did: pretend you are injured and leave the game before you hit the prop bet targets. As long as you don’t claim an injury that would be detectable in a medical scan, nobody can prove that you aren’t in pain. Or sick.
Basketball is also a fairly easy sport in which to simply perform poorly, or just poorly enough to miss the prop targets. It’s not a foolproof by any means, but good players have bad games all the time and can often be covered by their teams and still win the game.
The league also plans to implement additional measures to protect players and coaches from bettor harassment, and further educate players on the dangers of gambling.
