The NBA is facing its biggest integrity crisis in years, with Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier both arrested Thursday in connection with sprawling federal investigations into illegal sports betting and rigged poker games allegedly tied to organized crime.
“This is one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States,” according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella Jr.
FBI Director Kash Patel compared the operation to corporate insider trading, calling it “the insider trading saga for the NBA.” Between December 2022 and March 2024, Rozier allegedly supplied nonpublic information about NBA players and games, which was then used by bettors to profit from “unders” and injury-related wagers.
Prosecutors say Rozier tipped off childhood friend Deniro Laster before a March 23, 2023, Hornets game, telling him he’d leave early with a “supposed injury.” Laster allegedly sold that intel for $100,000, leading to hundreds of thousands in successful bets.
Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, maintains his client’s innocence, saying, “Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.”
The NBA Players Association added, “The integrity of the game is paramount to NBA players, but so is the presumption of innocence… We will ensure our members are protected and afforded their due process rights.”
While not charged in the sports betting case, Billups faces separate charges for allegedly helping run rigged underground poker games backed by Mafia families. Prosecutors say he was a “face card” used to lure victims into games fixed with high-tech cheating devices, including X-ray tables and marked decks.
Nocella said, “Victims believed they were sitting at a fair table. Instead, they were cheated out of millions.”
Billups, a five-time All-Star and 2004 NBA Finals MVP, was arrested in Portland and placed on immediate leave by the Trail Blazers. Assistant coach Tiago Splitter will serve as interim head coach.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness,” the NBA said in a statement. “The integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
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