Dec. 7, 2012: Stern\u2019s stern words<\/b><\/p>\n
The NBA, Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the NCAA sued the state of New Jersey over a law passed and signed by then-Gov. Chris Christie that legalized sports betting in the state and defied a federal ban.<\/p>\n
In Stern\u2019s deposition, published on the date listed above, he said<\/a>, \u201cThe one thing I\u2019m certain of is New Jersey has no idea what it\u2019s doing and doesn\u2019t care because all it\u2019s interested in is making a buck or two, and they don\u2019t care that it\u2019s at our potential loss.\u201d<\/p>\n Nov. 13, 2014: Silver\u2019s new song<\/b><\/p>\n Silver, the newly minted commissioner and Stern\u2019s successor, wrote an op-ed for The New York Times<\/a> in which he called for a federal law legalizing sports betting.<\/p>\n \u201cBetting on professional sports is currently illegal in most of the United States outside of Nevada. I believe we need a different approach,\u201d Silver\u2019s article began.<\/p>\n Silver, who officially succeeded Stern on Feb. 1, 2014, argued that public attitudes toward betting were changing and developed countries with professional sports in Europe allowed sports betting. He wrote:<\/p>\n \u201cCongress should adopt a federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports, subject to strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards.<\/p>\n These requirements would include: mandatory monitoring and reporting of unusual betting-line movements; a licensing protocol to ensure betting operators are legitimate; minimum-age verification measures; geo-blocking technology to ensure betting is available only where it is legal; mechanisms to identify and exclude people with gambling problems; and education about responsible gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n October 2015: Stern\u2019s about-face<\/b><\/p>\n Stern, speaking at a New York forum on the future of sports media<\/a>, said: \u201cI\u2019m with commissioner Silver. There should be a federal legislation that says, \u2018Let\u2019s go all the way,\u2019 and have betting on sports. It\u2019s OK. It\u2019s going to be properly regulated.\u201d<\/p>\n Stern again spoke<\/a> in support of legalized sports betting the following year at a conference in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n \n David Stern, right, sits next to Adam Silver, his eventual successor as NBA commissioner, during a joint news conference in 2011. (Patrick McDermott \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n May 14, 2018: Supreme Court strikes down federal ban<\/b><\/p>\n In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled sports betting was a state issue, striking down the federal ban and opening the floodgates for the widespread legalization we see today.<\/p>\n The NBA, and several other major pro sports leagues, had already swung into action. They\u2019d launched what became a state-by-state campaign to change laws<\/a> so that the leagues would be required to receive a cut of the proceeds from bets on their sport. Millions were spent on lobbyists to strong-arm lawmakers in Congress and at statehouses across the country.<\/p>\n The campaign ultimately didn\u2019t work, but the leagues found better, more effective ways to make money. First, they sold their statistics, or \u201cofficial league data,\u201d to betting companies. Then\u2026<\/p>\n July 31, 2018: NBA, MGM strike a deal<\/b><\/p>\n The NBA announced that MGM Resorts International would be the league\u2019s official gambling partner<\/a>, the first partnership of its kind with a major sports league in the United States. Similar deals eventually followed between the NBA and other betting companies, including DraftKings and FanDuel. As part of the NBA\u2019s original deal with MGM, the casino conglomerate would use official NBA data on its betting platform and work with the league to detect and prevent fraud and game-fixing. MGM also had the right to use NBA and WNBA marks and team logos, worked on a coordinated marketing plan with the league. Deals like this also included payments to the leagues off money taken in on bets.<\/p>\n Individual sports teams in the pro leagues, including the NBA, cut similar individual deals with sports books.<\/p>\n March 20, 2024: Gamblers bother players, coaches<\/b><\/p>\n Then-Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff raised eyebrows<\/a> before a game when he said, \u201cI personally have had my own instances with some of the sports gamblers, where they got my telephone number, were sending me crazy messages about where I live, and my kids and all that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Around that time, similar statements were made by Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton<\/a> and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra<\/a>.<\/p>\n March 25, 2024: Porter scandal erupts<\/b><\/p>\n ESPN reports<\/a> that Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter is under federal investigation<\/a> for his role in numerous betting irregularities surrounding games in 2024 in which Porter, or his team, had played. An NBA spokesman said the league was \u201clooking into it.\u201d<\/p>\n Porter was under investigation for betting on NBA games, including placing bets against the Raptors, and for manipulating his own performance to affect prop bets against him. The investigation was triggered by the league\u2019s betting partners flagging the suspicious bets.<\/p>\n Porter was on a \u201ctwo-way\u201d contract with the Raptors, which means he played part of the time in the G League, the NBA\u2019s minor league.<\/p>\n April 17, 2024: Banned<\/b><\/p>\n The NBA did more than look into Porter. It found Porter privately told a sports bettor he was injured, removed himself from a game to control prop bets on his own play and placed his own wagers on NBA games.<\/p>\n Silver, in issuing Porter\u2019s expulsion from American pro basketball<\/a>, said Porter had committed \u201cthe cardinal sin.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the results of a league investigation, Porter<\/a>, 24, gave a confidential tip about his health to a person he knew to be a sports bettor before the Raptors\u2019 game on March 20, 2024, against the Sacramento Kings. A third individual, connected to Porter<\/a> and the original recipient of Porter\u2019s health information, placed an $80,000 parlay bet to win $1.1 million, a wager that hinged on the prediction that Porter would underperform against the Kings<\/a>.<\/p>\n To make sure the bet hit, the league found, Porter pulled himself out of that Kings game after just three minutes, claiming he was ill.<\/p>\n The investigation also showed that from January through March, Porter, while splitting games between Toronto and its G League affiliate, Raptors 905, placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate\u2019s online betting account. Although none of those bets were on games in which Porter played, he did bet on the Raptors to lose as part of a parlay bet. The wagers ranged in size from $15 to $22,000, and totaled $54,000. He netted nearly $22,000 in winnings on the bets, the league said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter\u2019s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,\u201d Silver said in a statement announcing Porter\u2019s expulsion.<\/p>\n Porter was charged federally with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a sports betting scheme on July 10, 2024.<\/p>\n Oct. 18, 2024: The Porter rule<\/b><\/p>\n Per an agreement between the NBA and its betting partners<\/a>, including FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM, no \u201cunder\u201d bets would be offered on any player on either a two-way or 10-day contract.<\/p>\n But federal probes were about to expand way past pro basketball minor leaguers.<\/p>\n Jan. 30, 2025: Rozier allegations surface<\/b><\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal<\/a>\u00a0reports Rozier is under federal investigation for possibly manipulating his performance in a 2023 NBA game as part of an illegal sports gambling operation. The NBA confirmed the ongoing investigation<\/a>, but said it conducted its own examination of the allegations and \u201cdid not find a violation\u201d of league rules.<\/p>\n The game and performance under scrutiny took place March 23, 2023, when Rozier was still with the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier played just nine minutes and 34 seconds in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans and scored five points.<\/p>\n Before the game against the Pelicans, Rozier averaged 35.3 minutes and 21.1 points per contest that season. He had just started a four-year, $96.23 million contract.<\/p>\n June 29, 2025: Beasley\u2019s turn<\/b><\/p>\n Reports surface that Malik Beasley, then of the Detroit Pistons, was under federal investigation<\/a>. Beasley\u2019s attorney said<\/a> the U.S. Eastern District informed them later last summer he was no longer a target of the investigation, but the NBA said<\/a> it had launched its own investigation.<\/p>\n The Pistons pulled a three-year, $42 million contract offer to Beasley off the table at the start of free agency because of the investigations, and he remains unsigned.<\/p>\n Oct. 22, 2025: The betting probe expands<\/b><\/p>\n Rozier, basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones, a former player and confidant to LeBron James, are charged with federal crimes<\/a> related to separate illegal betting schemes.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-132198664-scaled-e1761262828824.jpg\")
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