On Thursday morning (October 23), the National Basketball Association was rocked with the arrests of Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. Both men were arrested in connection to a pair of federal investigations into gambling, as reported by ESPN’s lead NBA insider Shams Charania.
Billups’ case reportedly stems from allegations that he was involved in an illegal poker operation with ties to members of three Mafia families. According to CNN, Billups allegedly took part in games which took place in Miami, Las Vegas, Manhattan and in the Hamptons. Billups, an NBA Hall of Famer and former champion with the 2004 Detroit Pistons, is in his fifth year coaching Portland who lost their season opener to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. He expected to appear in court on Thursday afternoon for a preliminary hearing.
Rozier has been the focus of a federal investigation since a game on March 23, 2023 when Rozier was with the Charlotte Hornets as they played the New Orleans Pelicans. Several sportsbooks flagged suspicious activity coming in, tied to wagers on Rozier’s points, assists and rebounds totalling $200,000. Rozier left that game with a foot injury. Since then, Rozier and his agent have spoken with the FBI multiple times. The NBA stated that it also looked into the game and didn’t find any league rules broken.
According to reports, former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones was also arrested Thursday, on charges he provided inside information about players to co-defendants who used it to make sports wagers. He was allegedly also involved in the same illegal poker operation that Billups was involved in, and purportedly asked for a payment of $2,500 before taking part. Jones was an eleven-year league veteran, and coached under Tyronn Lue from 2016 to 2018.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is expected to hold a press conference later on Thursday morning, with director Kash Patel speaking in detail about the arrests along with the office of the Eastern District of New York. Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, spoke to CNN, defending his client. “Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight,” he said.
