NBA coach Chauncey Billups and professional player Terry Rozier have been arrested as part of an investigation into illegal gambling. Their respective teams are taking drastic consequences.
NBA head coach Chauncey Billups of the Portland Trail Blazers and professional player Terry Rozier (Miami Heat) have been arrested for possible involvement in illegal gambling. US authorities confirmed this on Thursday at a specially convened press conference.
Former All-Star player and NBA champion Billups is being linked to prohibited poker games involving the mafia, said FBI Director Kash Patel. Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones have been arrested in connection with several cases of illegal sports betting.
According to prosecutor Joseph Nocella, Billups, the 2004 Finals MVP during the Detroit Pistons’ championship win and who was still on the bench during Wednesday’s season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, is one of 31 individuals arrested for involvement in a “nationwide scheme to manipulate illegal poker games.”
NBA: Rozier and Billups must leave their teams
Following the arrests, Rozier and Billups have been dismissed from their respective teams, as announced by the NBA in a press release.
“We are reviewing the federal charges announced today,” the league stated in a declaration. “Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are suspended from their teams effectively immediately, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations extremely seriously, and the integrity of our sport remains our highest priority.”
“One of the most brazen corruption scandals in sports”
Billups was arrested in Oregon, Rozier in Orlando. Miami had played its season opener there on Wednesday, with Rozier not participating against the team featuring German world and European champion Franz Wagner – officially due to an injury.
Rozier and Jones are alleged to have been “involved in one of the most brazen corruption scandals in sports since the widespread legalization of online sports betting in the United States,” Nocella said. He described it as “an insider conspiracy in the sports betting realm where confidential information about athletes and teams of the National Basketball Association (NBA) was exploited.”
The accused were involved in illegal bets on the performance of players from the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Toronto Raptors, said Nocella.
Suspicions existed earlier
Suspicions have existed for some time. For example, sports betting providers detected suspicious interest in Rozier’s statistics before the Hornets’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 23, 2023. Subsequently, bets on the then Hornets guard were stopped.
In April 2024, Jontay Porter was banned for life from the NBA for betting fraud. The former Raptors player allegedly passed confidential information to bettors and placed bets on NBA games himself.
At the end of July, former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas was arrested in connection with illegal poker games. The 43-year-old is accused of renting out his luxury residence in Los Angeles “to host high-stakes gatherings there between September 2021 and July 2022.”
NBA aims to counter manipulation attempts
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had just explained on Tuesday on the Pat McAfee Show that the league is working with its sports betting partners to counter manipulation attempts.
“We’ve asked some of our partners to withdraw additional bets,” said Silver: “We’re trying to implement additional controls – by learning over time and working with betting providers to prevent these manipulations.”