NBA Tells Sportsbooks to Pull Certain Bets, Restrict Parlays

The NBA told its partner sportsbooks on Friday, October 16, to stop offering several prop markets and to block parlays that stack one player’s unders, according to a league memo obtained by ESPN. The changes hit books like DraftKings and FanDuel this season.

The memo calls those parlays “low likelihood, high payout bets,” the same structure that surfaced in the federal cases of Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier. For US bettors, the NBA prop menu just got shorter at regulated sportsbooks.

The NBA Bets You Can No Longer Place

ESPN reported the full list of markets partner books must drop. These props are on the list: Parlays that combine unders on the same player’s statistics, winner of the opening tip, “first-of” markets, such as first basket, 3-pointer, rebound, assist, steal or block, props on a player missing specific shots, including his first or next attempt, unders on players expected to play fewer than 12 minutes, and alternate under lines that carry larger payouts.

These cuts stack on top of earlier limits. The league had already restricted props on players with 10-day or two-way contracts. Wagers on turnovers, fouls and missed free throws were also limited.

Why Same-Player Under Parlays Were the Main Target

ESPN reported that single-player under parlays appeared in the federal cases of both Porter and Rozier. That pattern is the clearest link between the scandals and the new memo.

Porter admitted in court that he removed himself from games early to benefit bettors. He did so while on a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors in 2023-24.

Prosecutors said one bettor put $80,000 on a parlay of Porter unders for a March 2024 game against the Sacramento Kings. The legs covered his assists, rebounds, points, 3-pointers, steals and blocks. Porter played only three minutes, and the ticket paid about $1.1 million.

Prosecutors allege similar parlays were placed on Rozier unders in a March 2023 game between Rozier’s then-team, the Hornets, and the Pelicans. Rozier left that game after about nine minutes. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

The logic is simple. When one player can influence every leg of a ticket, a long-shot parlay stops being a long shot.

The memos arrived nearly a year after the scandals broke. The investigations led to the arrests of former Portland coach Chauncey Billups, former Miami guard Terry Rozier and Damon Jones. After the Porter scheme, the NBA also banned under bets on two-way players.

How the NBA Enforces Betting Limits on Sportsbooks

The league can restrict its partner books through their agreements. The NBA estimates those partners account for upward of 99% of the US betting market.

Scott Kaufman-Ross, an NBA executive vice president, described the trade-off to ESPN. “There’s a balance between ensuring that we are removing problematic bet types but also ensuring that we don’t just move activity into the unregulated market,” he said. “And where we landed right now, we think, is the right balance of those two objectives.”

He also said past cases shaped the list. “Seeing where we may have had issues in the past is one of the inputs to determining the types of things that we think could be problematic,” Kaufman-Ross said.

Both major books signaled support. A DraftKings spokesperson said some restrictions already match its practices and that the company “supports the NBA’s efforts” on game integrity. FanDuel said it remains committed to “building a regulated market that roots out abuses.”

Prediction markets are a gap. The league has considered them, but has no formal partnerships, and Kaufman-Ross acknowledged enforcement there could be challenging.

New Integrity Training and Monitoring for Teams

A separate memo to teams outlined changes inside the league. Charles Tillman, the former NFL star and retired FBI agent, will lead in-person training on betting rules.

All players, coaches and training staffs must attend live, in-person training starting this season. The NBA is also upgrading its in-house, AI-based data platform that monitors for unusual betting activity.

The league added harassment protections, too. It updated its fan code of conduct and partnered with Social Protect, an opt-in service that identifies and deletes harassing social messages. A new text-message hotline lets people report threats.

What the NBA Betting Changes Mean for Prop Bettors

The memo goes straight at the long-shot tickets prop bettors love to build. Parlays that stack one player’s unders are out, along with alternate unders that carry larger payouts. First-of markets, missed-shot props and unders on players expected to play fewer than 12 minutes are gone, too.

That makes smarter building of betting slips more important.

Bench-player unders are the other big loss, since anyone projected under 12 minutes is now off limits.

Why the NBA’s Betting Crackdown Matters

The memo directly changes what US bettors can wager on. The league is targeting the exact bet structure prosecutors tied to the Porter case and alleged in the Rozier case.

With partner books covering upward of 99% of the market, per the league’s estimate, these limits will reach nearly every NBA bettor at regulated sportsbooks. The WNBA follows in 2027. Expect the prop board to keep evolving as the league balances integrity against pushing action elsewhere.

The board is smaller now, so every bet you place deserves more homework.