NBA Bars Same-Player Under Parlays at Sportsbooks — SkimNews
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- NBA distributed a memo to sportsbook partners Friday banning same-player under-stat parlays, bets on opening-tip winners, wagers on players to miss specific shots, and under bets on players projected to play fewer than 12 minutes; sportsbooks are also barred from offering alternate under lines with larger payouts.
- Jontay Porter admitted in court that he intentionally removed himself from games early during the 2023-24 season while on a two-way deal with the Toronto Raptors; an $80,000 under parlay on his assists, rebounds, points, 3-pointers, steals and blocks in a March 2024 Raptors-Kings game would have paid roughly $1.1 million before Porter exited after three minutes.
- Federal prosecutors allege Terry Rozier was at the center of a similar scheme a year earlier, exiting a March 2023 Hornets-Pelicans game after about nine minutes while bettors wagered on his under stats; Rozier has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
- NBA executive vice president Scott Kaufman-Ross said the league's partner sportsbooks—including DraftKings and FanDuel—account for upward of 99% of the U.S. betting market, giving the league the contractual authority to enforce the restrictions.
- NBA is enhancing its in-house AI data-monitoring platform for unusual betting activity and retained retired FBI agent and former NFL star Charles Tillman to lead in-person training on league betting rules.
- NBA acknowledged that enforcing the same restrictions on prediction-market platforms will be "challenging" without formal partnerships; the league also updated its fan code of conduct and partnered with Social Project to let players opt in to identifying and deleting harassing messages from sports bettors.
Why it matters: The new rules are built around the exact bet structures—low-likelihood, high-payout under parlays—that federal prosecutors say were used to bribe Porter and Rozier, and the NBA says the prohibition reaches more than 99% of the legal U.S. market through its sportsbook contracts. That same leverage does not extend to prediction markets, where the league concedes enforcement is harder without formal agreements, leaving a structural gap that sportsbooks and bettors are likely to notice quickly.
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