Congressional committee and NBA officials reportedly met in D.C. regarding gambling scandal

NBA staffers were in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to meet with lawyers and aides for the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee in a discussion about the recent gambling scandals connected to the league, writes Joe Vardon for The Athletic.

NBA dealing with gambling scandal

The NBA representatives, including league lawyers and a gambling consultant, spent less than an hour answering questions about the charges facing Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former player and coach Damon Jones, among others, Vardon reports. He adds that requests for additional documents are likely to follow.

The topics in question were the actions the league intends to take to curb bad actors from being able to act on non-public information for their own gain, what the NBA’s Code of Conduct does and doesn’t restrict in terms of such disclosures and acting upon information not yet public, and whether the recent troubles have caused the NBA to reconsider any of its profitable partnerships with gambling companies.

Vardon writes that a separate bipartisan Senate committee has asked for a briefing in writing that covers many of the same topics, while also questioning why Rozier was cleared by the league when the federal investigation was still ongoing and, in fact, resulted in Rozier facing criminal charges.

For what it’s worth, a source in the league office recently told Pablo Torre that while the NBA didn’t find any wrongdoing when it looked into Rozier, it also never formally closed that investigation.

Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell wrote in a statement:

“This is a matter of Congressional concern. The integrity of NBA games must be trustworthy and free from the influence of organized crime or gambling-related activity. Sports betting scandals like this one may lead the American public to assume that all sports are corrupt. As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over professional sports, and as dedicated basketball fans, we want to ensure the NBA is protecting the integrity of the sport.”

Vardon notes that the House committee also previously sent a letter to the NCAA about the recent announcement that collegiate athletes and coaches could bet on pro sports.

Neither NBA commissioner Adam Silver nor deputy commissioner Mark Tatum were in attendance at this meeting, according to Marc Stein of the Stein Line.