Adam Silver not present as NBA briefs Congress on gambling scandal

Members of the NBA league office were in Washington on Wednesday to brief Congressional staffers on the league’s ongoing illegal betting scandal, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

Commissioner Adam Silver did not attend.

This was a staff-level meeting — not lawmakers — given that Congress is mostly away due to the government shutdown, Vardon wrote. The briefing reportedly ran less than an hour and involved attorneys for both sides and a consultant representing the NBA.

Deputy commissioner Mark Tatum also did not attend.

This all stems from the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s request for answers after federal charges were filed last month against Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones.

Per Vardon, the committee wants clarity on multiple items — including how the NBA polices non-public info, how it handles its gambling partnerships, and how this all happened in the first place.

Billups is alleged to have participated in a rigged poker scheme tied to multiple New York crime families, dating back to 2019.

Rozier, meanwhile, is charged with intentionally manipulating in-game performance tied to prop bets back in 2023.

The NBA has not publicly detailed what new protocols, if any, could be coming.