David PurdumOct 27, 2025, 07:28 PM ET
- Joined ESPN in 2014
- Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008
A United States Senate committee sent a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Monday, saying that last week’s federal indictments of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones were a matter of “Congressional concern” and asking for details about the league’s approach to investigating potential gambling violations.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which is chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and oversees professional sports, asked the NBA in its letter to provide documentation of its gambling policies and a list of investigations regarding betting.
“The integrity of NBA games must be trustworthy and free from the influence of organized crime or gambling-related activity. Sports betting scandals like this one may lead the American public to assume that all sports are corrupt,” the committee members wrote.
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It is the second letter sent by a Congressional committee to the NBA since Rozier, Billups and Jones were among 34 individuals indicted last week as part of two overlapping federal gambling investigations.
In its letter, the Commerce, Science and Transportation committee asked the NBA to provide documents on any investigations into players, coaches, employees or owners since 2020, communications between the league and sportsbooks and integrity monitors about suspicious wagers, and the findings and report from its internal investigation of Rozier.
“This Committee needs to understand the specifics of the NBA’s investigation and why Rozier was cleared to continue playing basketball,” the committee wrote.
According to the indictment, Rozier is accused of sharing inside information, removing himself early from at least one game for the benefit of gamblers and profiting from those bets.
The NBA said in January 2025 that it had investigated unusual betting activity on Rozier’s unders in March 2023 and “did not find a violation of NBA rules.”
After the indictments last week, Silver said the league “couldn’t find anything.” Silver also said Rozier cooperated with league officials at the time, including being interviewed and surrendering his phone, before “we ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behavior,” and reiterated that the league has continued working with the government.
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