NBA bans certain types of sports bets following high-profile gambling scandals involving players
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addresses the audience during the Legacy Project NBA Cares event during the NBA Finals at the Denver Heights Community Center in San Antonio, Texas Thursday, June 4, 2026. (Reginald Thomas II/ San Antonio Spurs/Photo courtesy of San Antonio Spurs)
The NBA is restricting several types of sports bets this season amid recent gambling scandals involving players, according to ESPN.
In a memo sent to sportsbook partners Friday, Oct. 16, the league barred parlays combining under wagers on multiple statistics for the same player. The restrictions also cover bets on who wins the opening tip, players missing specific shots and under wagers on players expected to play fewer than 12 minutes. Sportsbooks also cannot offer alternate under lines with larger payouts.
The rules apply to the NBA’s authorized gambling partners, including DraftKings and FanDuel. The league estimates those partners account for more than 99% of the U.S. betting market.
"There’s a balance between ensuring that we are removing problematic bet types but also ensuring that we don’t just move activity into the illegal market," NBA executive vice president Scott Kaufman-Ross told ESPN.
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The changes follow federal gambling investigations involving former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
Porter admitted to leaving games early to benefit bettors during the 2023-24 season. In one instance, a bettor placed an $80,000 parlay on six of Porter’s statistical unders, with a potential payout of about $1.1 million. Porter played just three minutes.
Federal prosecutors allege bettors used a similar strategy involving Rozier during a March 2023 game, when he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets.
Rozier left after about nine minutes. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
The NBA is also expanding efforts to detect suspicious betting activity and protect players from harassment. Former NFL player and retired FBI agent Charles Tillman will lead in-person training on sports betting rules. The league is expanding its AI-based betting monitoring system and adding a text-message hotline for reporting threats and harassment. Players will also have access to a service that identifies and removes abusive social media messages.
DraftKings and FanDuel support the new restrictions.
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This article originally published at NBA bans certain types of sports bets following high-profile gambling scandals involving players.
Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.