An alleged Sports Gambling Operation with ties to organized crime has shaken the sports world after 31 people — including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones — were arrested in connection with what federal authorities are calling a “historic criminal enterprise.”

According to CNN and USA Today, the arrests were part of a sweeping FBI investigation into two interconnected schemes — one involving insider sports betting and another involving illegal poker games backed by multiple Mafia families.

“Today we are here in New York to announce a historic arrest across a wide-sweeping criminal enterprise that enveloped both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra,” said FBI Director Kash Patel during a Thursday morning press conference. “We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud.”

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Inside the Sports Gambling Operation

The first case centers on what prosecutor's call “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr., from the Eastern District of New York, stated, “This scheme is an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about National Basketball Association athletes and teams.”

Rozier, who joined the Miami Heat in early 2024, allegedly provided information to bettors about team rosters and player injuries and even faked an injury during a March 2023 game to manipulate betting outcomes. Meanwhile, Damon Jones is accused of placing bets based on non-public team information, often using casinos and online sportsbooks to hide the scale of the operation.

“The non-public information included when specific players would be sitting out or pulling themselves early for purported injuries,” Nocella Jr. explained. “Most of these guys succeeded, and the intended losses were in the millions of dollars.”

A Second Sports Gambling Operation Tied to the Mafia

The second indictment involves an extensive Sports Gambling Operation linked to illegal poker games held across New York, Miami, Las Vegas, and the Hamptons. Prosecutors say the games were fixed using “high-tech cheating technology” and that profits were funneled through the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime families of La Cosa Nostra.

Billups, who played 17 seasons in the NBA and was inducted into the Hall of Fame, is accused of participating in several of these underground poker games. “The games involved members of at least three New York mafia families,” authorities told CNN, “and Billups and Jones were allegedly paid for their participation.”

Nocella Jr. added, “The second indictment involves 31 defendants alleged to have participated in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games. These defendants, who include former professional athletes, used technology to steal millions of dollars from victims.”

The NBA’s Response to the Growing Betting Scandal

The news of the arrests comes just days after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed growing concerns about betting integrity. Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Silver said, “We’ve asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets, especially when they’re on two-way players. It’s too easy to manipulate something that seems small but can influence the outcome.”

This latest scandal threatens to further complicate the NBA’s relationship with legalized sports betting — an issue that continues to blur the line between entertainment and ethics.

As the investigation unfolds, authorities have hinted that more arrests could follow, and the involvement of organized crime suggests that the case may extend far beyond the NBA.

Relevant Links

• CNN: Feds reveal mafia-linked gambling probe that led to arrests of Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and NBA star Terry Rozier | CNNUSA Today: FBI claims mobsters, Chauncey Billups took millions in rigged poker games
• The Pat McAfee Show: Adam Silver on Sports Betting Integrity