The NBA is restricting several types of wagers this season, including same-player parlays that combine multiple statistical unders, according to ESPN. The limits follow gambling investigations involving former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter and Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier, whose cases have raised concerns about bets tied to individual player performances.
The league’s new restrictions apply at prominent sportsbooks, though the supplied report does not identify every affected operator or provide a complete list of newly prohibited markets. DraftKings said its existing practices already reflected many of the NBA’s market restrictions and that it supported the league’s efforts to protect game integrity. FanDuel also said it remained committed to cooperation with leagues and state authorities and to a regulated betting market.
Porter admitted to intentionally removing himself from games to help gamblers win bets, the report says. In March 2024, one bettor reportedly placed an $80,000 parlay on six of Porter’s statistical unders, with a possible payout of about $1.1 million. Porter left after roughly three minutes, according to the account.
In Rozier’s case, federal prosecutors allege that a scheme involved his departure from a Hornets game in March 2023 after about nine minutes. Rozier has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. The distinction is important: the allegations against him have not been established as fact in the material provided.
NBA executive Scott Kaufman-Ross told ESPN that the league wants to address problematic wagers without driving customers toward illegal sportsbooks. That goal reflects the challenge facing leagues and legal betting companies: limiting markets they consider vulnerable to abuse while retaining wagering within regulated platforms.
The NBA is also increasing its monitoring efforts. The report says the league is upgrading an artificial intelligence-powered system for tracking betting activity and has brought in Charles Tillman, a former NFL player and retired FBI agent, to educate NBA players about gambling rules.
Separately, the league plans additional steps to address threats and online abuse directed at players. It is partnering with an outside service to help players remove harassing social media messages and establishing a hotline for reporting threats, according to the report.
The new betting limits and player-protection measures come amid broader scrutiny of sports wagering and its potential effect on confidence in game outcomes. The league’s stated approach, as relayed by Kaufman-Ross, is to target certain markets and strengthen oversight while preserving legal betting options. The source material does not specify when every measure will take effect or detail how individual sportsbooks will implement each restriction.
