Congress demands answers from NBA over gambling scandal

The NBA’s gambling scandal has officially reached Washington, and that’s never a good sign.

According to ESPN’s David Purdum, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation sent a letter Monday to commissioner Adam Silver, requesting extensive details about the league’s gambling policies and recent internal investigations.

The move follows last week’s federal indictments that rocked the league, implicating multiple figures, including Heat guard Terry Rozier.

“The integrity of NBA games must be trustworthy and free from the influence of organized crime or gambling-related activity,” the committee wrote. “Sports betting scandals like this one may lead the American public to assume that all sports are corrupt.”

Lawmakers specifically want documentation of every NBA investigation involving players, coaches, or executives since 2020. They’re also asking why Rozier was cleared by the league’s internal probe before federal prosecutors stepped in.

That earlier review reportedly found “insufficient evidence” of wrongdoing — a conclusion Congress now wants explained.

The request could be a turning point. Congress has the authority to create an independent regulatory body to oversee sports gambling, potentially forming a Sports Integrity Commission similar to how the SEC oversees Wall Street.

Ever since legalized sports betting took hold in 2018, the fear has been that one major scandal could bring Washington into the mix. That moment has arrived.

And how the NBA handles this investigation may determine whether leagues continue policing themselves, or lose that power entirely.