The NBA and several prominent U.S. sportsbooks have reached an agreement to prohibit certain wager categories for the current season, according to a report from a broadcast news outlet. Among the restricted categories are the player prop parlay combinations that featured in recent sports betting investigations.
Under a directive distributed to sportsbook partners, the league identified same-player statistical prop parlays staked on the under as no longer available for placement. NBA players Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier each faced federal proceedings tied to that particular type of wager.
Following instructions issued by the NBA, betting markets the league considers problematic were placed off-limits for both its official gaming partners — DraftKings and FanDuel, neither of which holds Nevada operating licenses — and its authorized Nevada-based operators, Caesars Sportsbook and BetMGM. Betting options under scrutiny include wagering on which team wins the opening tip-off and unders placed on athletes projected to log fewer than 12 minutes of court time — categories the NBA and Caesars Sportsbook jointly identified as warranting removal from their platforms.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, an executive vice president at the league, conveyed in a statement that the goal was to remove bet types viewed as problematic while avoiding a situation where restricted activity simply migrates toward unlicensed operators, adding that the position the league arrived at reflects what it considers an appropriate equilibrium between those two aims.
Caesars, operating as an NBA league partner, confirmed its involvement in developing the memo and noted it had already pulled the flagged markets. In a written statement, DraftKings noted that its platform had already incorporated the NBA's newly introduced betting constraints, with a representative adding that the company viewed ongoing coordination with the league around wagering limits as part of a broader commitment to preserving the integrity of play.
A Las Vegas-based sports bettor identified as Hennen entered a guilty plea tied to a basketball wagering arrangement that also drew in Rozier. Rozier faces a separate charge alleging he took payment in exchange for tipping off bettors that he planned to exit a Charlotte Hornets contest in 2023 by feigning an injury. Wagering records show that Hennen directed more than $200,000 toward bets on Rozier to fall short of his individual prop-bet lines across points, rebounds, and assists — a pattern of wagers that prosecutors say was driven by non-public knowledge.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Hennen placed a series of wagers against former Toronto Raptors player Porter's statistical totals under a comparable arrangement. Among those wagers was an $80,000 parlay tied to a 2024 contest that stood to return $1.1 million before a sportsbook voided the bet. Kaufman-Ross noted that past areas where irregularities may have occurred factor into the process of identifying categories of activity the league views as potentially problematic.
A permanent ban from the NBA was handed down to Porter after he reportedly exited two separate contests during the 2024 season ahead of their conclusions, with the timing of those departures allegedly structured to benefit under wagers.
