In a shocking announcement, federal prosecutors have indicted 34 NBA figures, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. Billups and Rozier have been placed on leave from their teams, the NBA said in a statement.
These accusations put a dent in the league’s reputation, as they potentially represent the largest instances of cheating since 2007, when referee Tim Donaghy was discovered betting on games he officiated.
Billups was accused of participating in illegal poker games organized by Mafia families that defrauded victims of at least $7 million. This poker ring indictment alleges that wealthy people were invited to “rigged games” with well-known former professional athletes, known as “face cards,” who received a cut from “cheating teams.”
One such game took place in Las Vegas in April 2019, and allegedly involved Billups, who used a device described as a “rigged shuffling machine” that was secretly altered to read the cards. The FBI said a victim was defrauded of $50,000 in that game.
Rozier, on the other hand, faces accusations from federal prosecutors alleging that he helped carry out an illegal sports betting scheme using insider NBA information.
The indictment states that Rozier, along with the other defendants, “had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches that was likely to affect the outcome of upcoming NBA games or individual players’ performances,” and provided this non-public information to other co-conspirators “in exchange for a flat fee or a share in expected wagering profits – for the purpose of betting.”
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters that he was “deeply disturbed” by the news of the indictments.
“There’s nothing more important to the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition. I had a pit in my stomach. It was very upsetting.”
However, a puzzling fact is that the NBA had already investigated Rozier and found no hard evidence of his wrongdoing, stating that they failed to find a violation of NBA rules.
That raises the question: How rigorous was the NBA’s review? The league wasn’t able to accuse Rozier of his illegal acts, despite the fact that members of Rozier’s group allegedly placed more than $200,000 in bets on Rozier’s “under” line across multiple prop bets.
There was a similar case in 2024 involving Jontay Porter, a former basketball player for the Toronto Raptors, who admitted to allegations of a conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Ultimately, Porter was banned from the NBA; he was the first active player or coach to be expelled from the NBA for gambling since Jack Molinas in 1954. Although Porter’s and Rozier’s cases are rare instances, the two occurring in the span of less than two years should raise warning bells.
It took more than two years and an FBI investigation for Rozier to get caught. If the NBA continues to be lax in its policing and investigations, future players might be emboldened to carry out similar schemes. These are powerful, wealthy NBA figures who believed they could get away with committing crimes involving large sums of money.
The fact that the NBA is directly profiting from sports betting adds another wrinkle into this situation. Marc Edelman, professor of law in the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, shared his thoughts.
“The NBA currently sells its sports data for large sums of money to sports books. Currently, on various team broadcasts, (the league) has sponsorships and endorsements with sports betting sites.”
It is concerning that the relationship between sports leagues and sportsbooks are becoming a bit cozy.
“Perhaps we should have legalized and licensed sports betting, but there should be further separation between the monetization of league-related information and these sports books,” he said.
If the NBA is profiting directly from the activity, it raises doubts on how tough the NBA’s enforcement of these rules would be.
In a new era of legalized sports gambling, the NBA needs to tighten its protocols and increase transparency. Scandals of this kind can erode the public’s trust in the NBA’s integrity.
If the NBA wants to maintain a reliable reputation — a necessity if the league is to continue working with sports betting companies — federal prosecutors must press serious charges to dissuade future attempts, as well as clear restrictions that adequately address the complex competing interests between professional sports leagues and sportsbooks.
