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Two indictments detailed schemes involving sports betting and rigged poker games, prosecutors said. The link was current and former N.B.A. players and coaches.
Oct. 23, 2025, 6:43 p.m. ET
The sports world was rocked on Thursday by the arrests of Chauncey Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and other N.B.A. figures in connection with gambling schemes, including rigged illegal poker games run by the Mafia.
The schemes, revealed in two federal indictments, are the latest gambling scandals tied to college and professional sports. One, related to illegal betting on N.B.A. games using insider information, threatens to cast suspicion over the integrity of the league, which just began its new season two days ago.
The case in which Mr. Billups and others were accused involved what prosecutors said was an illegal poker ring that Mafia families used to steal more than $7 million from victims.
The indictments were made public as the N.B.A. begins its season and television deals worth $76 billion over 11 years. The league receives millions in advertising and licensing deals from legal sports-gambling companies.
Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, said the betting schemes netted “tens of millions.” The big online gambling houses like FanDuel and DraftKings rake in billions of dollars annually; more than $2 billion was wagered across New York State in September alone.
Here’s what we know about the cases.
Who was charged, and with what?
Six people were indicted in the insider-betting scheme. Among them were Terry Rozier, an N.B.A. veteran who played the last two seasons with the Miami Heat, and Damon Jones, who played in the N.B.A. from 1998 to 2009 and was later an assistant coach. Four of their friends and associates were also indicted: Eric Earnest, Marves Fairley, Shane Hennen and Deniro Laster.
