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At the beginning of the 2025-2026 NBA season, a sports betting and illegal gambling scandal broke out. On October 23, 2025, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested, along with six other defendants, for his alleged role in an illegal sports betting scheme; while with the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, he informed others that he would be injured and would not be playing in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans. It is accused that he sold his insider knowledge to bettors for 100,000 dollars. Chauncey Billups was arrested on the same day for his involvement with an illegal poker ring run by the Mafia. Former NBA player and coach Damon Jones was arrested for his involvement in both schemes, along with two other defendants. Although the illegal poker ring run by the Mafia was not involved with the illegal sports betting schemes within the NBA, there was some overlap in the people allegedly involved.
This is not the first sports betting scandal that has affected the NBA. In recent times, Tim Donaghy, an NBA referee was discovered to be officiating games he was betting on. In 2024, a scandal involving Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors; Porter was found to also be informing bettors of insider knowledge and was purposefully underperforming for betting purposes. The investigation into Porter’s involvement in sports betting eventually led the FBI to the current sports betting investigation, as there are overlapping people involved.
Sports betting is becoming an increasingly popular activity, as more states have legalized sports betting. There was a 22 percent increase in sports betting revenue from 2023 to 2024, going from just over 11 billion dollars to over 13.7 billion dollars. Sports betting is also more accessible, through platforms like FanDuel, DraftKings, and ESPN Bet.
In the 2018 case Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, the US Supreme Court found that states are allowed to repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which prohibited state-sanctioned sports betting, if that is the choice that the state legislation wants to make. The Supreme Court held that PASPA violated the anticommandeering clause of the 10th Amendment, which does not let Congress commandeer the states’ own legislative decisions or force them to enact federal regulations. This case has allowed many other states to legalize sports betting.
Seeing as both illegal gambling and sports betting are an issue with the NBA, it is up to both the league and Congress to make sure that there are better regulations in place. The NBA is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the game, while Congress should recognize that even those who make millions a year are turning to illegal betting and gambling schemes. Congressmen have introduced the SAFE Bet Act in both 2024 and 2025 to better regulate the sports betting industry.
Although the NBA is not a government body, it is still important that they invest the time and effort to make sure that their players are not putting the integrity of the game at risk. People pay to watch NBA games and many take seeing their favorite players and teams play to the best of their abilities very seriously. In order to maintain that audience and sustain the cultural bond that professional basketball creates, it is important that the league take this very seriously.
Gambling addiction and habits often lead to social harms, such as breakdown of relationships, domestic violence, or the neglect of children, but also increases chances of committing income generating revenue. Gambling also affects mental health and can lead to suicide. Furthermore, there are direct financial harms that result from increased access to online sports betting, such as lower credit scores and higher rates of bankruptcy; these effects are particularly felt by young men in lower income areas. Therefore, regulations on sports betting are something the government should consider greatly.
Suggested Citation: Joyce Lian, NBA Sports Betting and Gambling Getting Out of Hand, Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol’y, The Issue Spotter, (Jan. 28 2026), https://publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/jlpp/2026/01/28/nba-sports-betting-and-gambling-getting-out-of-hand/.
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