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Congress is seeking information related to the recent FBI investigation into betting and game fixing that has incriminated three current and former gamblers.
The House Commerce Committee on Friday sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver requesting information and a report seeking information related to the scandal that resulted in the federal indictment 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 at a news conference before an NBA preseason 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 from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The committee seeks five key points of information from Silver:
“1. Details regarding alleged fraudulent, illegal and betting practices involving 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 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 allow illegal betting schemes to occur. 5. Whether the NBA is acting and how it is doing it. reassess the terms of its partnerships with sports betting companies,” the letter reads.
The letter also references comments made by Silver during an appearance Tuesday on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” where the commissioner expressed support for greater federal regulation of sports betting.
“I think, frankly, there probably should be more regulation,” Silver said. “I wish there was federal legislation instead of state-by-state. I think you have to control the amount of promotion, the amount of publicity surrounding it.”
Pak Gazette Digital reached out to the NBA for a response to the letter.
He Department of Justice listed seven NBA games in which high-risk bets were placed after non-public information was revealed to players.
Rozier’s alleged involvement came about through a game on March 23, 2023, when he told childhood friend Deniro Laster that he was leaving the game early, citing an injury, so Laster could make bets based on the information. Neither Hornets management nor betting companies were informed of Rozier’s scheme, according to the indictment, and Rozier was not listed on the team’s injury report.
NBA LEGEND CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, HEAT’S TERRY ROZIER ARRESTED AS PART OF FBI GAMBLING INVESTIGATION
Laster then allegedly sold that information to other co-conspirators, and numerous people placed bets totaling approximately $200,000 on Rozier’s “under” bets to hit both parlay bets and straight bets. After Rozier played only nine minutes and never returned, the bets won. Rozier and Laster counted the cash winnings at Rozier’s Charlotte home about a week later, the indictment says.
The Justice Department says the player was ultimately ruled out with a lower-body injury: LeBron James did not play that night due to an ankle injury that kept him out for 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 the Justice Department mentioned was a matchup between the Portland Trail Blazers and Chicago Bulls on March 24, 2023, the day after Rozier played nine minutes, where an accomplice, “an NBA coach at the time,” allegedly told an old friend, who is also a defendant in the rigged poker scheme, that the Blazers would “go down” that night for a better pick. draft and would seat some of the best players on the team. The rest of the players had not yet been public information.
Rozier and Jones were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The NBA announced that Rozier and Billups were immediately suspended from their teams, “and we will continue to cooperate with relevant authorities.”
“The integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said.
