NBA News: Billups & Rozier Arrested in Gambling Probe

NBA News: Billups & Rozier Arrested in Gambling Probe. Bet on Basketball with Confidence with BUSR and get a 100% Welcome Bonus up to $1,500.

 

NBA Integrity Crisis: Inside the Multi-State Organized Crime and Betting Scandals

 

The National Basketball Association has been shaken to its core following the synchronized, high-profile arrests of Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. These arrests, announced by federal authorities on Thursday, represent the culmination of multi-year, multi-state investigations targeting two deeply entrenched illegal gambling operations: a sophisticated insider sports betting ring focused on the NBA, and a massive Mafia-backed scheme to rig high-stakes underground poker games across the country.

In a formal statement confirming the stunning news, the NBA announced that both Billups and Rozier have been placed on immediate and indefinite leave from their respective teams. The simultaneous arrests were part of a sweeping law enforcement operation that detained 34 individuals in total, marking a significant victory for federal law enforcement against the encroachment of organized crime into professional sports.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that the probes spanned 11 states and uncovered fraudulent activities estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. Patel characterized the scale of the fraud and the alleged involvement of organized crime networks as “mind-boggling.” This investigation has exposed vulnerabilities within the modern, multi-billion-dollar legal sports betting landscape, particularly concerning the manipulation of individual player performance wagers, commonly known as NBA prop bets.

 

The Rozier Indictment: Leveraging Inside Information

 

Terry Rozier, apprehended in Orlando, Florida, hours after his team’s season opener, is facing serious charges related to the illegal sports betting side of the inquiry, a network investigators dubbed “Nothing but Bet.” The indictment claims the veteran guard participated in a scheme that leveraged non-public, private information known only to NBA players or coaches to secure massive betting profits.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella Jr., this confidential data—which included details on player injuries, lineup changes, and team strategies such as “tanking”—was passed to co-conspirators, who then placed fraudulent wagers. In return, Rozier allegedly received compensation, either as a set fee or a portion of the betting profits. Nocella Jr. did not mince words, characterizing the incident as “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes” seen since the widespread legalization of online sports betting across the United States.

 

A Yearly-Investigation

The scheme allegedly involved players altering their performance or taking themselves out of games early to ensure specific prop bets hit the ‘under.’ One key incident highlighted in the indictment involved Rozier, then playing for the Charlotte Hornets, during a March 23, 2023, game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier played less than ten minutes before exiting with a purported foot injury, remaining on the bench for the rest of the season. Authorities allege that Rozier had informed co-conspirators of his intention to leave the game early due to a “supposed injury,” allowing them to place wagers that resulted in thousands of dollars in profit. This activity had previously drawn scrutiny from sportsbooks due to unusual betting patterns, although Rozier had been cleared by an internal NBA investigation at the time. The newly uncovered federal evidence, however, paints a damning picture.

The co-conspirators in this particular ring included six individuals, among them a relative of Rozier, and several other unnamed defendants, including an NBA player from Florida and an unnamed NBA coach/former player from Oregon whose description closely matches Billups—though Billups is charged separately in the poker case. Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, issued a statement asserting that his client is “not a gambler” and is prepared to vigorously defend himself against the charges, suggesting the federal government is aiming for “misplaced glory” rather than justice.

 

The Billups Conspiracy: Rigged Poker and Mafia Enforcement

 

The indictment involving Chauncey Billups, arrested in Oregon, focuses on a much older and darker strain of criminal activity: a large-scale, nationwide operation to rig underground poker games allegedly supported by four notorious New York Mafia families: the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese crime families. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch emphasized the historical significance of the case, noting that “Bringing four of the five families together in a single indictment is extraordinarily rare.”

The games, hosted in various high-roller locales including Manhattan, Miami, Las Vegas, and the Hamptons, were meticulously rigged to fleece wealthy, unsuspecting victims. The defendants are accused of employing extraordinarily high-tech methods to manipulate the games, resulting in the theft of over $7 million from victims in the New York area alone.

 

These methods included the use of sophisticated cheating technology:

  1. Altered Card Shuffling Machines: Used to pre-determine the order of cards.
  2. Bar-coded Decks: Allowing co-conspirators to know the exact identity of every card.
  3. Hidden Cameras: Strategically placed in poker chip trays to spy on opponents’ hole cards.
  4. Specialized Sunglasses and X-ray Tables: Technology allegedly built into the gaming tables themselves to read the cards of unsuspecting players and relay the information to the operators.

 

Nocella explained that the victims, dubbed “fish,” were often lured into the rigged games by the prospect of playing alongside former athletes and celebrities, referred to as “face cards,” with Billups reportedly serving in the latter role. These “face cards” were allegedly paid a portion of the criminal proceeds in exchange for lending legitimacy to the otherwise illicit operations. For example, Billups is implicated in an alleged rigged game in Las Vegas around April 2019 that defrauded victims of at least $50,000.

Once the victims lost substantial sums—one individual lost a reported $1.8 million—members of the associated crime families allegedly used traditional mob enforcement methods, including extortion and violence, to ensure the gambling debts were paid, according to Police Commissioner Tisch. Furthermore, the indictment revealed that the proceeds were often laundered through shell companies and cryptocurrency to obscure the origins of the stolen funds.

 

The Overlapping Shadow of Damon Jones

 

The federal investigation also implicated former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones, whose alleged involvement served as a critical link between the two separate, sprawling criminal networks. Jones is charged explicitly with participating in both the insider betting scheme (alongside Rozier) and the rigged poker operation (alongside Billups).

Authorities allege that Jones, who served as an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2022-2023 season, provided insider information for sports wagers, exploiting non-public knowledge about player injuries and team dynamics to manipulate prop bets. Jones, Billups, and Rozier are among the named defendants in the respective indictments. However, Jones, along with two other defendants (Eric Earnest and Shane Hennen), is suspected of overlapping roles in both cases. Jones’s dual indictment underscores the interconnected nature of the corruption and the willingness of some former and current NBA figures to engage with organized crime.

 

Broader Links and the Crisis of Integrity

 

The timing of these arrests, coinciding with the start of the 2025-2026 NBA season, is intended to maximize public attention and underscore the gravity of the charges. The Rozier case itself draws a critical connection to the massive scandal involving former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter, who was banned from the NBA earlier this year after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges related to manipulating his own performance for prop bets.

The current crisis highlights a sobering reality for a league that has increasingly embraced legalized gambling as a source of revenue. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has addressed the league’s concerns, stating that it is proactively working with sportsbook partners to enhance controls. Silver has been a long-time advocate for legalized betting, arguing that a regulated market provides the traceability needed to detect aberrational behavior. However, the string of scandals has shifted his tone.

In recent interviews, Silver has called for stricter federal regulation rather than a fragmented state-by-state approach, arguing that such an approach makes oversight difficult. Furthermore, he has specifically targeted prop bets, which are highly susceptible to manipulation.

“We’ve asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets, especially when they’re on two-way players, guys who don’t have the same stake in the competition, where it’s too easy to manipulate something that seems otherwise small and inconsequential,” Silver explained. The league’s efforts are geared not only toward preventing manipulation but also protecting players from the growing trend of fan harassment tied to betting losses. “We have to protect the competitors,” Silver stated, noting the toxic environment created when bettors lose wagers on individual player performance metrics.

 

The Legal Road Ahead

 

Both Billups and Rozier face multiple federal charges, including wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. These are felony charges, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, should prosecutors secure a conviction. They were scheduled to appear in federal court in Oregon and Florida later on Thursday, respectively.

The fallout is expected to be extensive, both legally and professionally. The NBA reiterated its commitment to working with all relevant authorities, noting, “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.” This story dominates the current NBA news cycle, leaving the league to contend with the immediate damage to its reputation and the daunting task of preventing future corruption amid ubiquitous sports betting.

 

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