The NBA players arrested on Thursday include Chaunsey Billups (l), Terry Rozier (c), and Damon Jones(r)|Erik Drost; Keith Allison|CC BY 2.0; CC BY-SA 2.0
The FBI arrested over 30 people yesterday in two illegal gambling-related cases. Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former player and coach Damon Jones are among those indicted.
In one case, prosecutors allege that Jones and Rozier used insider information, and in some cases, players altered their performance to rig bets.
In one instance, while playing for the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, Rozier told a friend he would leave a game early with an injury, allowing bets exceeding $200,000 to be placed on him.
The other case alleges 31 defendants, including Billups and Jones, of participating in rigged, Mafia-run poker games that saw victims lose at least $7.15 million since 2019.
The operation in New York reportedly used tampered shuffling machines, marked cards, x-ray tables, and special lenses to cheat in underground games backed by the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families.
Rozier and Billups have been released on bond.
FBI Director Kash Patel called the fraud “mind-boggling.” FanDuel, an official NBA betting partner, condemned the incidents as “deeply disturbing.”