NBA, union back bet limits to curb manipulation, athlete abuse - ESPN

With three players involved in a federal gambling investigation, the NBA and its players' association said this week that they support further limitations on certain types of bets to reduce the risk of manipulation and combat athlete abuse by gamblers.

«Protecting the integrity of our game is paramount, and we believe reasonable limitations on certain prop bets should be given due consideration,» an NBA spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN. «Any approach should aim to reduce the risk of performance manipulation while ensuring that fans who wish to place prop bets can continue to do so via legal, regulated markets.»

NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter from the league in April 2024 after finding that Porter had manipulated his performance in two games. Porter pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in July 2024 and admitted in court to removing himself from two games during the 2023-24 season to benefit associates who had bet on the under on his statistics.

In reaction, the NBA asked its partner sportsbooks to stop allowing bettors to wager on the under on prop bets involving players on two-way contracts, like Porter was at the time of the alleged scheme.

The league now believes further limitations on prop bets may be warranted.

Porter is one of three NBA players, along with Terry Rozier and Malik Beasley, known to have been investigated as part of a federal gambling inquiry. Neither Rozier nor Beasley have been charged with a crime.

The National Basketball Players Association views the Porter case as an outlier and does not believe widespread manipulation exists in the league, according to a spokesperson. The NBPA is, however, concerned about the abuse athletes face