NBA’s Silver backs proposal for US sports betting tsar as integrity cases take centre stage

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took the stage on Tuesday in Las Vegas at a disconcerting period for sports integrity, as a spate of gambling scandals have left the public clamouring for widespread reforms across the US sports landscape.

Silver addressed the media at the Vegas NBA Summer League, as a host of current and former players face federal charges in a high-profile Brooklyn gambling case. While the local Vegas media pressed Silver on the league’s expansion plans , the NBA commissioner has also had to grapple with the alarming case – one that threatens to erode integrity across pro and college sports.

At a federal sports betting hearing in May, Senator Ted Cruz devoted a large chunk of his prepared remarks to his crusade to restore integrity to sports. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, New York Representative Paul Tonko has likened the problem gambling crisis among teenagers to the tobacco epidemic in the 1990s. Finally, Carolyn Pokorny, a former New York federal prosecutor, has floated a model for a federal sports betting commissioner, one who would be given subpoena powers in comprehensive, multi-state investigations.

Silver, who backed the legalisation of sports wagering in the run-up to the 2018 PASPA decision, told iGB that he is in favour of certain aspects of Pokorny’s proposal. A staunch advocate of federal intervention in the sports betting market, Silver noted that a so-called sports betting tsar could be helpful in facilitating investigations where the leagues are somewhat limited in scope.

“I’m very pro-regulation here, as you can hear, and I think more is necessary to get our arms around this,” Silver said.

Trouble in the EDNY

In recent months, the epicentre for gambling scandals nationwide has been a federal courthouse house in Brooklyn, where a bevy of defendants have faced charges in a parallel sports betting/ illegal poker investigation.

Over the last year, at least five NBA figures have been indicted in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on gambling-related charges. Three former players, Damon Jones, Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups, were arrested last October when the government unsealed indictments in the sweeping case. Two others, Malik Beasley and Ed Davis, were arrested in a separate sports betting scheme last month.

Jones, a former teammate of LeBron James in the mid-2000s, reunited with the NBA’s all-time scoring leader several years ago when he served as unpaid assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In February 2023, Jones allegedly disseminated material non-public information on the injury status of a Lakers player to an illegal betting syndicate. From there, members of the syndicate are accused of using Jones’ intel to place a series of winning bets on the Lakers.

While the player is not identified by name in the indictment, it fits the profile of James. It is unclear if James has been questioned in the Jones’ investigation. James has not spoken publicly on if he feels victimised by the scheme.

More guilty pleas expected

Of the 30-plus defendants charged, Jones became the first to appear for a change of plea hearing. In April, Jones pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy in US vs Earnest, the sports betting matter. He also pleaded guilty to a separate count of wire fraud in US vs Aiello, the illegal poker case. Jones is scheduled to be sentenced in early 2027.

On Tuesday, hours before Silver addressed the media, prosecutors from the EDNY submitted a letter to US District Judge Ramon Reyes, the presiding judge in the poker case. Per the letter, prosecutors informed Reyes that the government is nearing plea agreements with 11 defendants, including Shane Hennen, a presumed ringleader in numerous gambling schemes.

A guilty plea by Hennen could serve as an inflection point for the prosecution since the he also faced charges in a prominent college basketball point-shaving case. In that case, at least 17 Division I basketball players from more than two doze