The NBA commissioner is being called to explain what the league is doing about the arrest of Portland coach and Miami player.
Congress wants answers from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on the investigation into gambling and game-fixing that has cast a shadow over the league.
The House Committee on Commerce, which has jurisdiction over sports, asked Friday for a briefing from Silver on what led to the arrest of Portland Trail Blazer’s Coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, according to the letter.
“These allegations raise serious concerns about sports betting and the integrity of sport in the NBA, which harms fans and legal sports bettors,” said the letter, which was signed by six Republican and Democratic members of the committee, including Chair Brett Guthrie.
The NBA had no immediate comment about the letter, which asks for the briefing no later than Oct. 31.
Their request reflects the intensity of the scrutiny on the league following disclosure of a sprawling investigation that authorities said included the leaking of inside information about NBA athletes to win bets on games as well as rigged poker games involving the mafia.
Federal authorities arrested Billups and Rozier along with 30 other people on Thursday.
The House committee asked Silver to brief members on whether the NBA’s code of conduct explicitly prohibits the activity alleged in the indictments and whether the league will reassess its relationships with the sports betting.
They also want to ask Silver about actions the league will take to limit the “disclosure of nonpublic information for illegal purposes.”
The committee cited Silver’s past comments on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show” in which he called for enhanced regulation on sports gambling.
“I think, probably, there should be more regulation, frankly,” Silver told the show on Tuesday. “I wish there was federal legislation rather than state by state. I think you’ve got to monitor the amount of promotion, the amount of advertising around it.”
The recently unsealed indictments have reignited calls from lawmakers to regulate sports betting. Members of Congress have urged for added safeguards, with a Senate committee weighing federal regulation for the sports betting industry in December.