NBA Commissioner reveals major issue in sports betting

Thursday, 9 May 2024

NBA Commissioner reveals major issue in sports betting

by BD Banks

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made a pretty clear admission about the league’s role in the state of sports betting.

Speaking at the Associated Press Sports Editors Commissioners Conference on Monday, Silver commented on a question about the lifelong ban the league placed on ex-NBA player Jontay Porter for gambling violations by admitting that the league has its hands tied a little bit when it comes to betting.

“We only have so much control,” Silver said. “For example, the NCAA has made the point about the risk to college players. There’s a large pool of players in college whose careers will end after they participate in college athletics, so there’s not as much at stake. There’s clearly a lot more at stake for a superstar player than there is for a two-way player.”

Porter was a two-way player with a contract that was just above $400,000. There was reportedly a bet placed on him worth $80,000 for one of the games that he was caught violating the NBA’s gambling rules.

Silver said during the conference that these player prop bets are definitely more prone to “shenanigans,” and he also recognized that illegal betting still exists which makes it even harder to monitor these behaviors.

He added that the NBA has partnerships with some sportsbooks, but the illegal betting and the sportsbooks that the league does not have partnerships with just makes it harder to monitor betting.

“There are limits to our control, but we think there should be a regulated framework, where it’s the leagues working together with the state oversight groups and the betting companies, whether or not we have partnerships with them. In some cases we have partnerships with, just take DraftKings and FanDuel, where we don’t have absolute control, but when we have a marketing partnership with those companies we have a lot more say than with companies where we have no partnership whatsover. Then we’re relying on them doing a broader based concern about integrity in the industry and them not running afoul of the regulators.”

More sports betting:

The national popularity of sports betting shot up after the Supreme Court changed a rule in 2018 that banned it in most states. Nearly 80% of states are able to bet on sports in some capacity, and regulations on the court and field have been harder to track.

Porter was the most notable case of sports betting involving a player in the NBA, but the NFL has suspended multiple players for involvement in sports betting as well.

The NBA has also faced other issues involving sports betting, particularly regarding the fan’s treatment of players. All-Star Tyrese Haliburton was one of the NBA players who has admitted that he’s felt like fans have treated him differently, often screaming at him about their bets which has put a different pressure on players.