NBA staff members met with congressional staffers Wednesday to discuss the league’s relationship with sportsbooks and other matters related to the gambling scandals that led to federal indictments of Miami guard Terry Rozier, Portland coach Chauncey Billups and others last month, two people with knowledge of the talks said.
The people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details were not immediately revealed publicly, said that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was not at the meeting, nor were any sitting members of Congress. One of the people described the meeting in Washington as “a fact-finding session.”
It’s unclear if the meeting will satisfy requests from lawmakers in both the House and Senate for information from Silver about the league’s gambling policies and, specifically, why Rozier was cleared to play after sportsbooks flagged unusual betting patterns surrounding his performance for a game on March 23, 2023, when he was with the Charlotte Hornets.
Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on that panel, have said with regard to that game involving Rozier that they want 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.”
“This Committee needs to understand the specifics of the NBA’s investigation and why Rozier was cleared to continue playing basketball,” Cruz and Cantwell wrote.
Federal officials say Rozier conspired with associates to help them win bets based on his statistical performance in that March 2023 game. The charges are similar to what former Toronto player Jontay Porter faced before he was banned from the league by Silver in 2024.
A House committee also asked for detail from the NBA on a number of matters, including “gaps, if any, in existing regulations that allow illegal betting schemes to occur.” Silver has said many times he would prefer federal regulation on sports betting over the current model that has individual states deciding how it should be regulated.