NBA head coach and player charged
in sprawling sports betting and Mafia-backed poker schemes
[October 24, 2025]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, TIM REYNOLDS and PHILIP MARCELO
NEW YORK (AP) — The head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and a
player for the Miami Heat were arrested Thursday along with more
than 30 other people in a takedown of two sprawling gambling
operations that authorities said leaked inside information about NBA
athletes and rigged poker games backed by Mafia families.
Portland coach Chauncey Billups was charged with participating in a
conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games tied to La Cosa Nostra
organized crime families that cheated unsuspecting gamblers out of
at least $7 million. Heat guard Terry Rozier was accused in a
separate scheme of exploiting private information about players to
win bets on NBA games.
The two indictments unsealed in New York create a massive cloud for
the NBA — which opened its season this week — and show how certain
types of wagers are vulnerable to massive fraud in the growing,
multibillion-dollar legal sports-betting industry. Joseph Nocella,
the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York,
called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since
online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”
“My message to the defendants who’ve been rounded up today is this:
Your winning streak has ended," Nocella said. “Your luck has run
out.”
Both men face money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy charges.
Also charged was former NBA assistant coach and player Damon Jones,
who stands accused of participating in both schemes.
"The fraud is mind boggling," FBI Director Kash Patel told
reporters. “We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud
and theft and robbery across a multiyear investigation.”
The alleged fraud, however, paled in comparison to the riches the
athletes earned on the court. Billups, who was inducted into the
Basketball Hall of Fame last year, had about $106 million in
earnings over his 17-year career. Rozier made about $160 million in
his stops in Boston, Miami and Charlotte.
Billups and Rozier have been placed on leave from their teams,
according to the NBA, which said it is cooperating with authorities.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the
integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said in a
statement.
Hours after his arrest, Rozier appeared in a federal court in
Orlando, Florida, wearing a Charlotte Hornets sweatshirt, handcuffs
and shackles. Billups appeared before a judge in Portland, Oregon.
Both men were ordered released from custody on certain conditions.
Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, issued a statement Thursday
evening denying the allegations, calling his client a “man of
integrity.” “To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal
government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his
Hall-of-Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom. He would not
jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game,”
Heywood said.
Rozier's lawyer, Jim Trusty, said in a statement that his client is
“not a gambler” and “looks forward to winning this fight.” Trusty
criticized authorities for not allowing his client to surrender on
his own and accused officials of wanting “the misplaced glory of
embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk.”
Messages were left Thursday at a phone number and email address
listed in public records for Jones.
Roughly 20 other defendants appeared in federal court in Brooklyn,
where most of them pleaded not guilty. Many of those charged with
violent crimes or with lengthy criminal records and ties to
organized crime were detained.
Mafia families profited off gambling scheme, officials say
The poker scheme lured unwitting players into rigged games with the
chance to compete against former professional basketball players
like Billups and Jones. The games were fixed using sophisticated
cheating technology, such as altered card-shuffling machines, hidden
cameras in poker chip trays, special sunglasses and even X-ray
equipment built into the table to read cards, authorities allege.
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This combo of images shows, from left, Portland Trail Blazers head
coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former
Cleveland Cavaliers' Damon Jones. (AP Photo/File)
The scheme often made use of illegal poker games
run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion
of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime
families, according to court papers. Members of those families, in
turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion
and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success
of the operation, officials said in court documents.
Athletes accused of leaving games early
In the sports betting scheme, Rozier and other defendants are
accused of accessing private information from NBA players or coaches
that could affect a player's performance and giving that information
to others so they could place wagers. Players sometimes altered
their performance or took themselves out of games early to rig prop
bets — a type of wager that allows gamblers to bet on whether a
player will exceed a certain statistic, such as a total number of
points, rebounds or assists, according to the indictment.
In one instance, Rozier, while playing for the Charlotte Hornets in
2023, told people he was planning to leave the game early with a
supposed injury, allowing gamblers to place wagers earning them tens
of thousands of dollars, authorities said. That game against the New
Orleans Pelicans raised eyebrows at the time. Rozier played the
first 9 minutes and 36 seconds of the game before leaving, citing a
foot issue. He did not play again that season.
Posts still online from March 23, 2023, show that some bettors were
furious with sportsbooks that evening when it became evident that
Rozier was not going to return to the game after the first quarter,
with many turning to social media to say that something “shady” had
happened regarding the prop bets involving his stats for that night.
The indictments contain the descriptions of several unnamed NBA
players whose injury status and availability for certain games were
the source of betting activity. Those players are not accused of any
wrongdoing, and there is no indication that they would have even
known what was being said about their status for those games.
Those players include LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard.
Their identities are clear based on a review of corresponding injury
reports surrounding games mentioned in the indictment. The
indictments show that certain defendants shared information about
the availability of those players in a game on March 24, 2023,
involving the Portland Trail Blazers, and two games in 2023 and 2024
involving the Los Angeles Lakers.
The NBA had investigated Rozier previously. He was in uniform as the
Heat played the Magic on Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, in the
season opener for both teams, though he did not play in the game.
___
Durkin Richer reported from Washington, and Reynolds reported from
Miami. Associated Press writers Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon;
David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Sarah Brumfield in
Cockeysville, Maryland; Larry Lage in Detroit; Kate Payne in
Tallahassee, Florida; and Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida,
contributed to this report.
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