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These Prop Bets Could be Banned in Aftermath of Latest NBA Gambling Scandal

Dan Holmes

Sports Writer

Publish Date: Oct 25, 2025

Fact checked by: Sara Jane Gamelli

Key Points

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier arrested for allegedly influencing NBA games
Current Portland head coach Chauncey Billups has been arrested for involvement in illegal poker ring
Former assistant coach for Lakers allegedly provided injury info to gamblers
Player prop bets are at the center of gambling scandals in the NBA

This is not how Adam Silver hoped to celebrate the start of a new NBA season.

Instead of dunks and three-pointers, the topic dominating the first week of the new National Basketball Association season is gambling.

On Thursday, the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers, Chauncey Billups, and Terry Rozier, a guard for the Miami Heat, were arrested. The shocking action was part of a widespread investigation into criminal gambling activity by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Billups is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, making his arrest and alleged involvement in an illegal poker scheme embarrassing and troubling for the league.

These recent actions, which include the third instance of an active player allegedly influencing his own performance to impact sports betting, is a major problem for the NBA.

It's not difficult to see how the NBA could take actions to limit problems with odds in the future. One such step could be to ban the "under" odds for player prop bets.

Rozier faked injury, impacting player prop markets

Allegedly, according to reporting, Rozier has been arrested because he begged out of games in 2023 and faked an injury to ensure his own performance would be under the player performance betting lines.

In a player prop, gamblers can place wagers on whether an NBA athlete will be over or under a specific total of points, rebounds, assists, three-point shots made, etc.

In 2024, Jontay Porter, a former winner of the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award, was banned from the league when it became known that he had feigned illness to get out of multiple games to ensure the under on his own player prop bets. Also earlier this year, Malik Beasley, a guard most recently for the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons, was reportedly under investigation by federal officials over similar allegations of fixing his own over/under performance. The NBA looked into the issue but later cleared Beasley.

Also on Thursday, former assistant coach Damon Jones, who also previously played in the NBA, was arrested. Allegedly, Jones sold information to gamblers in his capacity as an unpaid assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers. Jones is accused of providing injury and lineup information to gamblers ahead of games.

Such sensitive information can sway betting and deliver an edge to gamblers. The Jones allegations are troubling because it illustrates how one person who isn't even on the court can stain the league and threaten the integrity of a sport.

Should the NBA ban player prop "under" bets?

It could be simple for the NBA to wash away the possibility of a Porter or Rozier case happening in the future: eliminate odds for "under" portions of a player prop market.

The NBA could pressure sports betting operators to cease offering such odds. Gamblers could still wager on whether a player will outperform his stat line, such as +180 on Player A to score 25+ points. But there would be no incentive and no money won if the player was under that threshold.

So far, the NBA and other professional sports leagues have defended their association with sportsbooks and gambling. The thinking is that regulated, legal sports betting is better than the old model of illegal gambling with shady bookies that took place in the shadows.

There is logic in that argument: the Porter situation was reported by a sportsbook and brought to the attention of the league. Reportedly, the Rozier instances where also reported by sportsbooks. Indeed, sports betting operators have systems in place to monitor unusual betting activity.

Is the NBA having betting scandals because sports betting is legal? Or are we simply hearing about the scandals because sports betting is legal and regulated?

States can ban NBA player prop bets

It's possible individual states may take action to prohibit the types of bets we are seeing in the NBA scandals. Any state that regulates its betting industry can determine which betting markets it allows. There is precedent for this: Ohio and a handful of other states have banned prop bets on college sporting events.

With or without the NBA's help, a state could simply restrict sportsbooks from offering over/under odds on NBA games or any sporting event.

However, that would only close one avenue of potential scheming. Reportedly, Rozier is accused of wagering on his own team to lose a game. He also reportedly suggested betting against his team to win to friends or associates.

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