Adam Minter, Columnist

The NBA Deserves Some Blame for Its Gambling Scandal

October 25, 2025 at 7:07 PM UTC

Adam Minter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the business of sports. He is the author, most recently, of “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale."

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The National Basketball Association is enmeshed in a gambling scandal, a seemingly inevitable outcome given the growing presence of legalized betting in professional sports.

In a federal indictment unsealed Thursday, prosecutors detail allegations that current and former NBA players and coaches used insider information to enable fraudulent bets. In one example cited, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier allegedly faked an injury so that bettors could wager on his game statistics. Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is charged in a separate indictment related to high-stakes poker games that prosecutors allege were rigged and backed by organized crime.