As part of a broad FBI investigation into illicit sports betting and rigged, mafia-affiliated poker games, scores of people have been arrested, including an NBA player and coach. Federal prosecutors on Thursday implicated Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier in two separate indictments.
The 31-year-old Rozier is one of six individuals detained in connection with suspected betting violations, including other NBA players who might have fabricated ailments to manipulate gambling markets. A different prosecution involving retired players and the mafia involves 31 defendants, including Hall of Fame player Billups, who has been coaching the Portland Trail Blazers since 2021.
Prosecutors said that four of New York’s five biggest crime families were engaged in that case, which revealed a purported plot to entice victims to play rigged poker games with well-known athletes before stealing millions of dollars.
Authorities claim that they accomplished this by utilizing technology such as X-ray tables and specialized contact lenses and eyewear that could read pre-marked cards. Rozier and Billups will be placed on immediate leave as the NBA reviews the federal indictments, the league said in a statement.
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