FBI director Kash Patel and other federal officials just shed light on the Thursday arrests of Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones and the allegations against the trio of NBAers are shocking.
Rozier’s case is perhaps the most eyebrow-raising, as New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch claimed that while the hooper was with the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, he illegally helped bettors gain thousands of dollars by letting them know he was going to pull himself from a game early “with a supposed injury.”
When he dropped from the action on the hardwood, Tisch says the co-conspirators made out with a ton of money … and actually delivered the proceeds to the hooper’s home, “where the group counted their cash.”
Meanwhile, Billups was taken into custody over accusations he helped Mafia families — including the Bonannos, Gambinos, Genoveses and Luccheses — in an elaborate scheme to fleece victims out of millions of dollars in rigged poker games.
According to the FBI director Kash Patel, defendants all across the nation would lure people to games under the premise they were playing some high-stakes cards and used celebs like Billups to make them appear legitimate. Yet the feds say once the victims sat down, the defendants used all kinds of technology to ensure “the fish” would lose.
Officials say X-ray tables, special contact lenses, fixed deck shufflers, hidden cameras and more were all implanted in and around the poker rooms to help the defendants steal cash hand over fist.
Tisch alleged one victim lost $1.8 million in the games … and that there were over $7 million in total losses throughout the scheme. She claimed the Mafia families used threats, intimidation and violence to recoup the money.
Officials say Rozier and Billups’ cases were separate — calling one an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential NBA information and the other a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games — though they added they were related … and that Jones was actually involved in both.
In total, the FBI director Kash Patel say 34 people were arrested in the two cases.
Billups — the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers — actually manned his team’s sideline in its home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Hours later, he was taken into custody in Oregon.
Rozier — a Heat guard who joined Miami via trade in 2024 — did not play prior to his Thursday arrest … as he sat out the Heat’s Wednesday road matchup with the Orlando Magic due to a coach’s decision.
Jones — one of LeBron James’ former teammates in Cleveland — has not been an employee in the NBA since the 2018-19 season, when he was a Cavaliers assistant coach.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” Patel said of the cases Thursday. “It’s not hundreds of dollars. It’s not thousands of dollars. It’s not tens of thousands of dollars. It’s not even millions of dollars. We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multiyear investigation.”
The NBA just announced it’s placing Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups “on immediate leave from their teams” in the wake of Thursday’s arrests.
It added it’s cooperating with authorities, reviewing indictments and taking the “allegations with the utmost seriousness.”
“The integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the league stated.
Tiago Splitter is set to be named the interim head coach of the Blazers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. He joined the team as an assistant coach in June.