A 2025 NBA scandal exposes athlete participation in sports betting

Sports leagues have attempted to prevent athletes from betting

As pro and collegiate sports embrace betting (and the revenue that comes with it), each league works diligently to ensure the integrity of the games by hiring private firms to analyze irregular bets. These companies have flagged bets that led to the firing of Alabama’s baseball coach, the suspension of multiple athletes at Iowa and Iowa State, and, most recently, a lifetime ban on former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter by the NBA in April 2024.

Even athletes aren't immune to the sports-betting craze

While gambling scandals occasionally blew up before 2018, the widespread legalization of sports betting provided athletes with more opportunities to bet on the games they were playing.

The betting scandal that rocked college basketball

In the 1940s and '50s, illegal bookmaking in college basketball was rampant at Madison Square Garden. In the 1949-50 season, City College of New York players shaved points during games, though they played honestly in the NIT and NCAA tournaments, winning both. This OddsShark.com article explores how the points-shaving scandal was exposed, who went to jail, and its impact on the NIT and CCNY.

A timeline of sports-betting scandals

This timeline examines memorable moments from three decades of sports-betting history. It breaks down key political moments, as well as some historical moments such as when the internet pushed underground bookmaking online. There are also multiple descriptions of betting scandals from 1989 on.

Tim Donaghy and the NBA game fixing scandal

A two-year investigation by ESPN details how former NBA referee Tim Donaghy conspired to fix games, who he was working with, and where the money was going. In a lengthy statement, the NBA denied much of the new claims in the article, saying the data ESPN used was not strong and they were unable to replicate it. Donaghy was given a lifetime ban and served nearly all of his 15-month sentence.

A 2024 cheating scandal cast doubt on the industry

In 2024, National Fantasy Football Championship, a fantasy league with big payouts, fired one of its employees for manipulating data. The episode cast doubt on the relatively unregulated industry, despite the league coming down hard on the nefarious worker.

MLB pitchers were charged with benefiting from sports betting

In November 2025, two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians were charged with coordinating with sports bettors to enrich themselves and others. In many instances, they shared the kinds of pitches they would throw at specific points in the game. Bettors then placed money on those actions.

The Pete Rose scandal was exposed by Sports Illustrated

In the spring of 1984, a reporter at Sports Illustrated answered a call on the newsroom tip line claiming player/manager Pete Rose was gambling on baseball games. That March, the magazine published the bombshell report that led Major League Baseball to investigate and then ban Rose for life.

In 2015, FIFA's decades-old bribery network was exposed

In 2015, the US Department of Justice exposed a 24-year bribery network influencing broadcast rights and votes on World Cup host cities. Over 40 officials were indicted for accepting bribes. FIFA implemented several reforms, including term limits for presidents and council members and salary disclosures in 2016.

In 1985, one player said 40% of his colleagues used cocaine

The 1985 Pittsburgh Drug Trials found over a dozen MLB players taking the stand to testify about drug use around the league. Mets star Keith Hernandez, who was given immunity, testified 40% of players used cocaine. The trial led to seven convictions.

A 2004 brawl led to a strict dress code for NBA players

After the Malice at the Palace brawl between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons, Commissioner David Stern wanted to tamp down the league's bad-boy image, instituting a business casual dress code for all players on the sidelines and at team-sanctioned events.

Shohei Ohtani's interpreter allegedly stole $16M for gambling debts

Ippei Mizuhara first met Shohei Ohtani during the two-way star’s rookie year in Japan. Ten years later, Mizuhara, who had become a trusted friend and confidant to Ohtani, is alleged to have stolen $16M from his employer to repay gambling debts.

In 2024, the league signed a 11-year deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBC Universal

The $2.2B deal was widely applauded in the media, but the Players Association questioned how the NBA arrived at the valuation and why the deal gives players less than 10% of total revenue compared to the NBA’s 50%.

In 2023, at least 6 people were charged with stealing body parts

A recent case involving alleged trafficking in stolen human body parts charged that there was a nationwide network of individuals who bought and sold human remains. The charges alleged, among other things, that from 2018 through 2022, the manager of the morgue at Harvard Medical School's Anatomical Gifts Program stole organs and other parts of cadavers that had been donated for medical research and education. In late 2025, that Harvard morgue manager was sentenced to 96 months in prison.

The inclusion of NBA stars in the '92 Olympics changed basketball's global standing

The Olympics finally permitted professional basketball players to play in 1992 Summer Games and the NBA produced one of the greatest basketball teams ever assembled: The Dream Team. Billions worldwide watched Jordan, Bird, and Magic dominate to win gold, inspiring future Hall of Famers and increasing the NBA's viewership.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The first shoes Jordan got from Nike were against NBA regulations

The initial mockups Nike gave Jordan were entirely black and red. The NBA had strict rules around shoe color at the time that these colors violated. The story goes that Nike paid the $5K fine for each game that Jordan wore the shoes in, but there’s no photographic evidence that Jordan ever wore them in a game at all. Regardless, Nike created the “banned” ad, capitalizing on the controversy.

The story of Olympian Ryan Wedding's rise and fall as drug kingpin

After a disappointing finish representing Canada in the slalom at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Wedding turned to growing cannabis and selling cocaine. After serving prison time, he upped his game and came to control major drug routes in North America, finding himself on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. He was captured in Mexico City in January 2026.

Racketeering is broad term for running an illegal scheme

Racketeering itself isn't a single crime and prosecutors tend to think about racketeering as a pattern of criminal activities, including kidnapping and money laundering. The term comes from the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO.

Generally, NBA basketball teams whose players touch each other more win more games

This 2010 research finding underscores the importance of touch in promoting trust, bonding, and cooperation, thereby apparently improving team success. Touch also promotes cooperation in other settings: In a separate "prisoner's dilemma" study, when the experimenter gently touched some participants with a quick pat on the back, the touched individuals were more likely to cooperate and share with their partner.

Relive the best moments from March Madness 2025

Florida won its first national title since 2007, beating Houston 65-63 in a tournament where all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four for only the second time in history.

Following the NFL's concussion settlement, numerous victims were denied payouts

In 2015, the NFL finalized a landmark settlement with former players alleging concussions suffered in games were causing brain diseases. The settlement promised to pay every former player who developed dementia or diseases linked to concussions. This Washington Post investigation interviewed former players who filed claims under the agreement, but said they were rejected based on definitions in the settlement.

Georgia inmate pulls off $11M heist—from inside his cell

Prisoner Arthur Lee Cofield Jr., 31, allegedly impersonated Sidney Kimmel, the uber-wealthy chairman and CEO of a Los Angeles entertainment company, with the help of contraband cell phones from inside his prison cell.

Breaking down the WNBA's expansion plans

The 2026 season features two new teams, the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo, with plans for franchises in San Francisco, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia by 2030. This ESPN explainer unpacks what that means for fans.

Inside one of the largest US military bribery schemes

Glenn Defense Marine Asia Ltd. sprinkled US Navy officers with gifts, hosted events attended by Navy officers that were staffed by sex workers, and won millions of dollars worth of inflated military contracts to provide food, fuel, and security to Navy aircraft carriers. Leonard "Fat Leonard" Glenn Francis helmed the company. This 35-minute podcast episode is the beginning of a multi-part series sharing Francis' story from his perspective.

Why Serbia produces great basketball players

The NBA phenom Nikola Jokić isn't an anomaly. Serbia and other Balkan countries have produced generations of talented basketball players. This history of the region's approach to basketball explains why. It details a community-minded approach to the sport called "positionless basketball” that emphasizes dynamic multi-talented players rather than specialized superstars.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

11 people died from firework injuries in the US in 2024.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

This real-time tracking of the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak in May 2026 offers a unique glimpse into the global reach of the outbreak and whether the virus sickened passengers and their communities around the world.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.