Major Gambling Crackdown: NBA Players and Mafia Members Arrested
The FBI has unveiled a massive crackdown on illegal gambling involving NBA players and organized crime, leading to multiple arrests and shocking allegations of rigged poker games and manipulation of sports betting.
An NBA player and coach are among dozens of people arrested as part of a sweeping FBI investigation into illegal sports betting and allegedly rigged, mafia-linked poker games.
Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were named by federal prosecutors in two separate indictments.
Rozier, 31, is among six people arrested over alleged betting irregularities. They include NBA players accused of faking injuries to influence gambling markets. Billups, a Hall of Fame player who has coached the Portland Trail Blazers since 2021, is one of 31 people charged in a separate illegal poker game case involving retired players and the mafia.
The NBA said in a statement that Rozier and Billups were being placed on immediate leave as it reviews the federal indictments. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority, it said.
FBI Director Kash Patel held a news conference with other prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, where he described the arrests as extraordinary, emphasizing the multi-state operation exposed potentially tens of millions of dollars in ongoing fraud and theft.
The two cases involve significant allegations: one concerning players manipulating sports bets with insider information and the other involving rigged poker games facilitated by organized crime.
