The National Basketball Association told its 30 teams on Monday that it was instituting a broad review of betting-related issues to “protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliated leagues” in the wake of a bombshell federal indictment that alleges confidential information about players was leaked to gamblers.
In particular, the review will focus on proposition bets offered by legal online sports bookies, which allow gamblers to wager on the statistical performance of individual players, according to a memo from the NBA to its teams, which CNBC obtained.
In addition to prop bets, the league will also review how player injuries are reported publicly, and explore ways to improve the use of artificial intelligence and other tools to identify betting patterns that suggest gamblers have access to inside information about players and teams, according to the memo.
The memo, from NBA General Counsel Rick Buchanan and Dan Spillane, the league’s executive vice president in charge of governance and policy, was addressed to the NBA’s board of governors, team presidents, general managers and team counsels.
The six people named in the indictment unsealed last week in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, included Miami Heat player Terry Rozier. Rozier and the others are accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
