by Vincent Juico
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver played a key role in allowing sports betting to be part of the NBA ecosystem. The decision to allow it may be haunting him.
For decades, the NBA and other leagues opposed sports betting, fearing it could threaten the integrity of the games.
All that changed when Adam Silver became commissioner in 2014.
![Adam Silver [Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons]](http://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/1024px-Adam_Silver_15847004771.jpg)
In November 2014, Silver wrote a New York Times op-ed titled “Legalize and Regulate Sports Betting.” How’s it working out for you, Mr. Commissioner?
He argued that sports betting was already widespread illegally, so the smarter path was to legalize and regulate it transparently to protect the sport and generate tax revenue. The ends don’t justify the means.
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal PASPA law (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act), which had banned sports betting in most states.
After that decision, states were allowed to legalize sports betting, and the NBA, under Silver’s leadership, embraced partnerships with licensed betting companies. Again, Commissioner Silver may or may not be regretting the decision.
Critics including former players, journalists, and even league insiders argue that the league has blurred ethical lines, given its past opposition to gambling.
There’s a risk of addiction and integrity issues reemerging if not properly monitored. With the alleged involvement of Rozier and Billups, is it still properly monitored? Was the NBA Integrity Unit doing its due diligence?
The league’s commercial interest in betting could conflict with its duty to protect players and fans. That duty may have already been compromised.
Integrity units catch suspicious behavior, while legal partners ensure regulated wagering.
Responsible gambling programs protect fans. In this writer’s humble opinion, responsible gambling is no gambling. There are no benefits in gambling and sports betting. We’ve all heard of countless stories of lives, marriages, and families ruined because of an addiction to the aforementioned.
In essence, the NBA is trying to professionalize betting rather than ignore it, turning it from a risk to a controlled, monitored, and transparent revenue stream.
I don’t know how you can allow professional betting in a league watched by millions of young people. Kids watch their favorite players give it their all on the court night in and night out.
With sports betting rearing its ugly head, allegedly involving an active NBA player and a head coach of an NBA team based in the Pacific Northwest, is it still controlled, monitored, and transparent?
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