NBA prop bets: partner books drop the unders tied to scandals

Last season the same-player under was still a listed NBA prop at partner books. On October 16, 2026 the league told DraftKings, FanDuel and its other authorised operators to pull that parlay, plus unders on players expected to play fewer than 12 minutes, four days before opening night on October 20, the start date on the NBA key-dates page as updated October 14, 2026.

What the October 16 memo pulls

ESPN obtained the memo and published it at 11:00 a.m. ET on October 16. Authorised operators, DraftKings and FanDuel named among them, were told to pull the markets in the table. The league puts those partners at upward of 99% of the US betting market. The limit sits in the partner agreements, not in a statute.

Bill King's Sports Business Journal piece, dated October 16, 2026, puts the letter on Thursday and, with ESPN, limits alternate unders. Front Office Sports, which saw the operator letter and the team memo, alone extends the limits to the WNBA next season. ESPN's memo is Friday's.

Restricted market	What partner books were told	Source
Same-player under parlay	Unders on one player's statistics cannot be combined in a single parlay. The memo calls them "low likelihood, high payout bets".	ESPN, October 16, 2026
Unders under 12 minutes	No under on a player expected to play fewer than 12 minutes in that game. Sports Business Journal narrows it to bench players expected to log fewer than 12 minutes.	ESPN and Sports Business Journal
First-of markets	Opening tip, and a player to miss a specific shot, per ESPN. First basket, and first points, rebound, assist, steal or block, per Front Office Sports and Sports Business Journal.	ESPN, Front Office Sports, Sports Business Journal

Limits as reported on October 16, 2026. Rows are the markets those accounts named, not a full prop menu.

King put the partners at about 95% of the state-regulated market, against ESPN's upward of 99% of all US betting. The bases differ. The higher figure is not a closed national menu.

The parlay already in the case files

ESPN, citing the criminal complaint, said one charged bettor placed an $80,000 parlay on the under for Jontay Porter's assists, rebounds, points, three-pointers, steals and blocks in a March 2024 game between the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings. It would have paid approximately $1.1 million. Porter, then on a two-way contract, left after three minutes. He admitted in court that he left early to benefit bettors. CBS Sports reported a lifetime ban in 2024.

Prosecutors allege the same shape in March 2023. Terry Rozier, then with the Charlotte Hornets, left a game against the New Orleans Pelicans after about nine minutes. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

"There's a balance between ensuring that we are removing problematic bet types but also ensuring that we don't just move activity into the illegal market," said Scott Kaufman-Ross, executive vice president at the NBA. "And where we landed right now, we think, is the right balance of those two objectives." (ESPN, October 16, 2026)

The under, as a category, stayed. ESPN says two-way unders were already barred after Porter. Sports Business Journal adds fouls, turnovers, missed free throws and unders on 10-day contracts from earlier seasons.

Where Kalshi and Polymarket sit

Kaufman-Ross told ESPN the league has not announced a prediction-market partnership. Without one, he said, enforcement there could be challenging.

Front Office Sports reported on October 16, 2026 that a source said the new rules cover sportsbook partners only, not prediction markets. September talks with Kalshi and Polymarket had deal terms on the table and were stuck on control. An executive told that outlet, "The NBA wants control."

Books and exchanges were already split. FanDuel and DraftKings quit the American Gaming Association in July 2026 over prediction markets, and the NFL has told the Supreme Court that sports contracts are gambling. This memo rewrites only the books the league can bind.

What DraftKings says it already withholds

Front Office Sports said on October 16, 2026 that DraftKings and FanDuel are the official partners. Caesars told that outlet it is complying.

A DraftKings spokesperson told Front Office Sports on October 16, 2026 that the NBA's guidance "formalizes many of the market restrictions already reflected in DraftKings Sportsbook's practices."

If DraftKings had already pulled these markets, Friday's memo is a written standard, not a shock delisting. A prop a player can settle by sitting down, the shape of that approximately $1.1 million Porter ticket, is not a normal line.

"Whether it's called a prediction market, whether it's sports betting, it's the same issues for our league and I think for all the leagues, there's issues around integrity first and foremost," said Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, in CNBC comments from earlier in October 2026, as Front Office Sports reported on October 16, 2026. "We want access to that data. We also want control of the market."

This article is informational analysis only and is not betting advice.

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