The NBA implemented rules against players and coaches having access to phones and social media in 2009 during live games but they’ve been scantly enforced in recent years. That will change in the 2024-25 season, as Ian Begley reports that the league will re-enforce their old rules against phones on the bench during a game with Jontay Porter’s gambling incident from last season sparking the enforcement.
“NBA is expected to communicate to teams a revised policy on cell phone use/social media use that prohibits players/coaches from using their phones from tipoff to end of the game.”
“In the communication, the NBA will re-state the previous rule that prohibits players/coaches from using their phones from 45 minutes before tipoff to after the game until after media obligations.”
“Rule clarification is intended, primarily, to keep players/coaches focused on team matters and, secondarily, for the integrity of the game as it pertains to gambling. Teams will designate one point of communication for players and coaches during the ‘no cell phone’ period.”
This is a massive rule change as players have gotten comfortable bringing their phones to the bench area during games, with many even using it during games. Players with active roles in the game often don’t use their phones on the bench, but former Toronto Raptors‘ forward Jontay Porter was also an end-of-the-rotation piece during his gambling activities.
Jontay Porter was charged with a federal felony and banned from the NBA for gambling on games. From January to March 2024, Porter placed 13 bets totaling $54,000 on various NBA games, with a total payout of $76,059 and net winnings of $21,965.
The biggest issue wasn’t the bets Porter placed himself, but the confidential information he was passing onto people to let them make more informed bets. The peak of the same came when Porter instructed his co-conspirator to place an $80,000 bet on his ‘unders,’ leading to a $1.1 million payout which ultimately got him caught.
Cutting off modes of communication between players and potentially bad gambling elements is the right move, but enforcing the rules they made in 2009 without amending them for modern needs might be a little tricky.
Some players, especially the younger ones, will struggle to come to terms with not using their phones from 45 minutes before tip-off until the end of the game. It shouldn’t be difficult to enforce as long as players who have gotten used to being online 24×7 can sacrifice 3-4 hours of their screen time to focus on basketball.
This might have been designed to impact how players or coaches pass on information to gamblers, but will also result in players no longer posting highlights or their opinions on social media right before or during a game.
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