Sports gambling scandals are as old as time. The 1919 Chicago “Black Sox” World Series fix is one of the most famous. Others include the 1951 City College of New York point shaving scandal where games were fixed and the racket was organized by the New York City mob which might lead you to think such scandals are a thing of the past. However, this still continues to be an issue even while gambling legalization is ongoing.
Just days into the 2025-26 NBA season, the league was overtaken by the news that Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were all arrested by the FBI and are pending charges surrounding involvement with an illegal gambling ring.
Over 28 people were involved in the FBI probe that uncovered the gambling ring and arrested all participants.
Rozier and Jones were allegedly involved in tipping off the organized crime groups with confidential information, and in exchange, they would get a share of the illegal gambling profits.
Allegedly, during a March 2023 game, Rozier tipped off mob groups that he was going to be coming off the floor early with a foot injury. There was $200,000 on the line, and he checked out after playing just nine minutes.
This is a similar charge to the one brought against Jontay Porter, the former Toronto Raptor, who tipped off gamblers about his health ahead of a March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings. There was $80,000 placed on his under for that game, and he checked out after only three minutes. Porter claimed he checked out with an illness.
Porter has not been sentenced, but is pleading guilty. He has received a lifetime ban from the NBA.
Billups is being accused of involvement in a poker-ring scheme which featured advanced cheating techniques like X-ray tables to see what cards were in people’s hands. There were supposedly fixed shuffling machines that alerted a member at the table who had the best hands and also marked cards that were see through, only if you were wearing the right glasses.
Billups was used as a “face card” to lure different people into the games and they would go on to cheat players out of over $7 million. The head coach released a statement making it clear he will fight the FBI’s charges, unlike Porter.
Both Rozier and Billups are being brought up on wire-fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges. Jones, who took part in both of these rackets, will face two counts of each. Rozier and Billups are now being placed on leave until the case is settled.
While on leave, they will not be paid. Rozier was set to be paid some of his annual $24.92 million salary from his contract that he signed with the Charlotte Hornets in 2021. Billups is still under contract with the Trail Blazers until the 2026-27 season, making an annual $2.5 million.
According to the Athletic, this was not the first time that Rozier has been investigated by the NBA. After the game two years ago when the dubious wagers were placed on Rozier, the alarms were set off by the sports books who alerted the NBA to investigate. The league sat down with Rozier for an interview and seized his cell phone for evidence.
Still, after these investigations, he was allowed to play over two full seasons worth of basketball games.
While these leagues have methods in place, and an investigation team that is meant to look at these types of cases, it lacks the same amount of power that the government-led organizations have to levy cases against players.
“The NBA does not have the same authority or investigatory resources as the federal government, including subpoena power to obtain information from anyone, law enforcement surveillance, wire-tapping and search warrants,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass told the Athletic.
The NBA had this case on their radar even before Rozier was arrested by the FBI. These cases continue to come up a lot more as legal gambling starts to become even more prominent.
According to the American Gaming Association, the NBA is projected to make around $160 million per year in revenue from gambling companies in sponsorship deals and television advertising alone. It’s no secret that this has become a big part of their business; in 2024 alone it brought the NBA $11.6 million in revenue.
The league cannot afford the bad press around matches potentially being fixed by players in an attempt to make a quick buck. Emmanuel Clase, star closer for the Cleveland Guardians, and his teammate Luis L. Ortiz, have both been put on leave and haven’t pitched since July due to unusual betting patterns on individual pitches thrown by each.
The motive to make a quick buck seems to be too great even while pro athletes have been making record contracts and salaries have risen. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is the NBA’s highest earner, making an average of over $59 million per season.
It still seems appealing for some to make quick money on what appears to be harmless information that they are giving the groups gambling on them.
These scandals will break the trust that fans have with the leagues that matches are not fixed and games aren’t already decided before the ball tips. The NBA can’t gamble with its credibility. If the integrity of the game is ever in question, no amount of sponsorship or television deals will ever be able to buy that back.
