NBA star arrested in mafia poker and insider gambling scandal
NBA celebrities including Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier have been arrested in connection with Mafia poker and insider gambling fraud cases.
Less than a week into the new NBA season, the league has been hit by a massive gambling scandal, with more than 30 people facing multiple charges.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were arrested as part of the investigation. Billups and Rozier were placed on “immediate administrative leave” after being charged.
FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocera Jr. for the Eastern District of New York announced the indictment on Thursday.
Billups was charged in connection with an illegal poker business with ties to the Mafia. He and the other defendants are accused of using high-tech cheating techniques to rig illegal poker games and steal millions of dollars from victims.
Rozier is charged with insider sports betting conspiracy. The Miami Heat guard allegedly shared nonpublic information about NBA teams and players with bettors from December 2022 to March 2024.
Both Rozier and Billups deny the charges. Jones is charged in connection with both.
This is one of the most shocking stories to impact the league in recent history. Here’s how prominent league stars, analysts and celebrities are reacting to this development.
NBA analysts, Hall of Famers react to scandal
ESPN’s “Inside the NBA” staff, which includes former NBA players Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley, weighed in on the scandal on October 23.
O’Neal said he had played card games with his teammates when he was in the league, but it was limited to that because the NBA told players “what not to do.”
“One of them was that someone would ask you if a certain player was playing and you would say no,” O’Neal said. “They all knew what was at stake. I’m just ashamed that they put themselves, their families and the NBA in this position. We all know the rules, we all know the letter of the law.”
Smith said he was surprised considering how much money Billups, Rozier, Jones and others made for their roles in the alleged fraud.
“But we need to recognize that gambling is an addiction,” Smith continued. “When you’re addicted, you make illogical decisions…regardless of your ethnic background, your physical background, your economic situation. So let’s understand that.”
Smith also cautioned against projecting these allegations onto the league as a whole.
“Just because some people get speeding tickets doesn’t mean everyone in the league speeds,” he said. “So don’t look at this group of people starting to be investigated as a league as a whole.”
Charles Barkley refuted Smith’s claims that what Rozier was allegedly doing was not a gambling addiction.
“These guys are idiots,” Barkley said. “You can’t fix the game of basketball under any circumstances… How much profit can (Rozier) make by leaving the game to go under? For example, he makes $26 million (a year).”
Barclay made it clear that Billups’ charges were a separate matter, but argued that the alleged behavior could not be explained by addiction.
“The idea that these guys are making all this money and giving out information, stop it,” Barclay said. “It has nothing to do with addiction. It’s the complete stupidity of these two (sic).”
Mychal Thompson, a former NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987 and 1988, said he was “in a state of shock” when he heard the news.
“The thing that comes to mind for me is, whether you’re an athlete or a coach or anyone who’s involved in gambling and thinks about gambling today, why should you gamble?” Thompson told USA TODAY Sports. “I mean, players are making tens of millions of dollars, so why … why should they make a few thousand more? Why risk their career when they can make $100 million or $200 million?”
That doesn’t make sense to me. ”
NBA players, coaches and others react to gambling scandal
Two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry isn’t concerned about the health of the league in the wake of these allegations.
“Overall, I think I’m very conscious of what to do and what not to do and understand the current state of the sport,” Curry said, according to the BBC. “And it’s not just the NBA. This is new territory for everyone. So I think we’re all very responsible, collectively.”
Golden State Warriors teammate Draymond Green said he was shocked but did not believe the league’s affiliation with gambling companies contributed to the scandal.
“But I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Hey, you guys are opening up a can of worms by partnering with gambling companies,'” Green said. “That can of worms can be opened with or without partnering with a gambling company. Partnering with a gambling company doesn’t make gambling more accessible to us. That’s what accessibility is.”
Warriors manager Steve Kerr said the team will consider what is allowed when it comes to gambling at the start of the season.
“Our general counsel, Woody Dixon, came in four days ago and spoke to the team,” Kerr said. “Every team in the league does this and goes through breaking points for all the things that are not allowed in this matter. So our players are well aware and all our players are well aware of what they are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do.”
