Major NBA figures arrested over illegal gambling probe
NBA Hall of Famer and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier are among 34 people charged in connection with two federal gambling investigations involving the league and organized crime.
The schemes, one involving insider sports betting and another rigging poker games across the country, spanned years and involved tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and gambling, FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference in Brooklyn on Thursday.
Authorities said Rozier was one of several National Basketball Association members who provided nonpublic information to accomplices, who then used straw bettors to place multiple bets based on their tips.
“This is an insider trading saga for the NBA,” Patel said.
Billups is accused in a separate case of rigging poker games to defraud unknowing players who were lured into the games with the promise of playing against celebrities, authorities said.
The defendants used sophisticated technology, including counterfeit card shufflers and x-ray tables.
According to prosecutors, the scheme involved several organized crime families in New York who used extortion and robbery to collect unpaid debts and laundered some of the proceeds through cryptocurrency and other means.
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said the arrests stemmed from two separate charges, but a handful of defendants were charged in both cases, including former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones.
Many players in the “Big Four” North American men’s leagues (NBA, National Football League, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League) have faced penalties for gambling in recent years as sports betting has become more widespread after becoming legal in more U.S. states.
Rozier, 31, is in his 11th NBA season and has averaged 13.9 points per game throughout his career.
He was under review for a March 2023 game after several online sportsbooks marked an unusual number of bets that he would play based on his projected stats for that day. He left the game due to injury after just nine minutes.
Rozier’s attorney, James Trusty, said prosecutors “appear to be taking the word of extraordinarily incredible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors have resurrected this non-case.”
Billups, 49, is entering his fifth year as Portland’s head coach. He played for seven teams during his NBA career and was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after winning the championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
