On Thursday, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones were indicted in a pair of sweeping federal investigations into illegal sports betting and rigged poker games.
Here’s what we know about the allegations, what’s next for the people involved and what this might mean for the NBA.
What are the two cases?
Doug Greenberg: Though they both involve current and former NBA players, the FBI made clear in its news conference that these are two separate cases, albeit with some overlap.
The first involves betting on NBA games, using insider information from players and coaches, and the second involves rigging high-stakes, Mafia-associated poker games against high rollers after enticing them to play with former NBA players, including Jones and Billups.
What is the FBI alleging happened in the sports betting case?
Brian Windhorst: That NBA players have taken themselves out of games, allegedly to win “under” prop bets, and that people with inside knowledge have leaked information about player availability before it was made public.
According to the case filing, between December 2022 and March 2024, a group of co-conspirators placed bets on at least seven NBA games using nonpublic information. Those games involved the Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors.
Rozier is accused of sharing inside information, removing himself early from at least one game for the benefit of gamblers and profiting from those bets, according to the indictment.
Jones, who was an unofficial part of Darvin Ham’s Lakers coaching staff in the 2022-2023 season, allegedly sold inside information about the player availability to bettors.
Although Billups is not named in the sports betting indictment, it describes a co-conspirator whose playing and coaching career match his. That co-conspirator allegedly told a bettor that the Trail Blazers were tanking and that several players would miss a March 2023 game.
Didn’t we already know about this?
Windhorst: Yes, Jontay Porter, formerly of the Toronto Raptors, pleaded guilty for his involvement last year. The NBA investigated Rozier in 2023 after suspicious betting on his prop bets in a game between the Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans — one of the games included in the indictment — and said it “did not find a violation of NBA rules.”
When asked about that investigation Thursday, league officials said the NBA does not have the same investigative powers as law enforcement, but wouldn’t comment on what the investigation included.
What is Rozier’s alleged involvement?
Greenberg: On March 23, 2023, Rozier, then a member of the Charlotte Hornets, allegedly told Deniro Laster, a childhood friend, that he planned to remove himself from Charlotte’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first quarter because of a supposed injury, according to the indictment. Laster allegedly sold this information to two bettors for about $100,000.
Those bettors, along with their associates and a network of proxy bettors, wagered on Rozier’s prop unders, according to the indictment. ESPN previously reported on betting activity involving Rozier’s props in the March 23 game.
Rozier left the game after just nine minutes, with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. He paid for Laster to travel to Philadelphia to collect the proceeds from the scheme, according to the indictment. Laster then drove to Rozier’s home in Charlotte to count the money with him.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty of Ifrah Law, said in a statement that his client is “not a gambler” and “looks forward to winning this fight.”
How does the NBA explain letting Rozier play over the past two years?
Windhorst: This question could create much of the fallout from these bombshell allegations. The NBA process, on this investigation, will certainly be put under the microscope. It also could affect an ongoing NBA investigation into Malik Beasley because the NBA will now need to be increasingly thorough as it proceeds. Beasley was not named in these indictments but is under federal investigation and will be subject to more scrutiny in the wake of them.
How does this involve Billups and Jones?
Windhorst: Jones and a co-conspirator matching Billups’ description are accused of telling bettors about the availability of star players before that information was known to the public in 2023 and 2024. The players are not named in the indictment, but match descriptions of Damian Lillard, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. None of those players have been accused of wrongdoing.
In an interesting twist, the second game in which Jones is accused of leaking the information to bettors — Jan. 15, 2024, against the Oklahoma City Thunder — James and Davis played, despite being on the injury report. The bet, on the Thunder, lost, and the co-conspirators asked Jones for their money back, according to the indictment. Jones insisted, the indictment says, that the intel was good.
A key difference between the allegations against Jones and Billups, though, is that Jones is accused of selling inside information.
Billups’ representatives could not be reached for comment.
Why was this inside information?
Windhorst: The gap between when a player’s availability is decided and when it is announced has, for decades, been a target of gamblers trying to get inside information. As coaches, Billups and Jones would know the team’s plans for their players before they were reported to the league.
For generations, NBA teams have at times hidden the availability of players on game days, especially star players, for strategic reasons.
Sometimes, players are truly game-time decisions. And sometimes, they are called game-time decisions, even if the decision has been made hours before. It is from this area that this case seems to stem, and what the NBA must further address.
What has the NBA done about this rise in gambling-related scandals?
Windhorst: In the wake of gambling’s widespread legalization, the NBA has taken steps to improve transparency. This includes more detailed injury reports that are updated throughout the day, and fines for teams that do not follow protocol.
But as this indictment shows, the league might have to reexamine and further tighten its existing protocols.
Who is Damon Jones?
Tim Bontemps: Jones was a journeyman NBA player, but best known for his time playing alongside LeBron James for three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008, including as part of Cleveland’s 2007 NBA Finals team.
After his career ended, Jones spent time coaching with both the Cavaliers’ G League affiliate and with the Cavs during James’ second stint with the franchise from 2014 to 2018 and was an unofficial part of former Lakers coach Darvin Ham’s staff in the 2022-2023 season.
What about LeBron James?
Greenberg: On Feb. 9, 2023, Jones texted co-conspirators to bet against the Lakers in their game against the Milwaukee Bucks because “Player 3,” as he is identified in the filing, would not be playing that night because of injury. Though “Player 3” was not named in the indictment, the details, including his relationship with Jones, match those of LeBron James. James has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and a source close to him told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that he was unaware of Jones’s gambling activity.
What allegedly happened in the Cavs-Magic game?
Windhorst: A Magic player told a friend, whom the indictment does not name but describes as “at times, an NBA player,” nonpublic information about a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in April 2023, according to the indictment.
The Cavs had previously announced that they were resting their starters for that game, and the Magic became a heavy favorite. The friend then shared this information with a co-conspirator, who bet on the Cavs to cover the spread.
When the Magic later also benched their starters, in a common late-season tactic, the Cavs won in a blowout.
The Magic player was not named in the indictment or accused of wrongdoing.
What is the poker-related case: United States vs. Aiello, et al.?
Greenberg: Since at least 2019, a group of co-conspirators organized illegal, high-stakes poker games across the United States designed to defraud wealthy players out of their money, totaling $7.15 million, according to the indictment. These games were supported by four of the five crime families that make up the Italian-American Mafia, otherwise known as La Cosa Nostra: Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese and Bonanno.
Billups and Jones — who were known as “face cards” in the scheme — allegedly used their celebrity to lure victims into playing high-stakes poker games that were actually rigged, according to the indictment. “Cheating teams” set up an elaborate scheme involving technology that would alert the co-conspirator players to the cards on the table, allowing them to get an edge on the victims. The organizers allegedly used X-ray tables, glasses that enabled the showing of marked cards and technology that allowed a remote member of the team to let others know the cards in play, according to the indictment.
Besides the victims, everyone involved in the games, including Billups and Jones, as well as the dealers, was involved in the scheme and received a cut of the victims’ losses, according to the indictment. The victims of the poker games were not identified in the indictment.
Once the victims lost, the Mafia used extortion and violence to make sure they paid their debts, according to the indictment.
How are they connected?
Greenberg: Though these are two separate cases, three people are charged in both.
Jones allegedly sold insider information to the co-conspirators in the NBA betting case and served as a “face card” in the poker scheme.
Eric Earnest and Shane Hennen allegedly bet on NBA games using nonpublic information and were members of the cheating teams in the poker scheme, according to the case filings. Hennen also provided some of the technology used to cheat in the games, according to the indictment.
What charges do Billups and Rozier face?
David Purdum: Billups and Rozier have been indicted on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, according to records. Each count carries no more than 20 years in prison, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Hu.
They both appeared in court Thursday and were released from custody under certain conditions. A Florida judge said Rozier would be released after putting up his home as bond and surrendering his passport. Billups also turned over his passport and is required to secure a substantial bond.
How does this connect to the Jontay Porter case?
Greenberg: Porter previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with this case and is awaiting sentencing. At Thursday’s news conference, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said that the co-conspirators threatened Porter into cooperating in order to clear previous gambling debts.
Is this connected to the Gilbert Arenas case?
Greenberg: In July, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas was arrested in connection with illegal poker games staged at his house in Encino, California. Though there are some similarities between that case and Thursday’s indictments, Arenas’ scheme involved the Israeli mafia and does not appear to be directly related to the more recent case.
Is this connected to the Malik Beasley case?
Greenberg: It’s not clear. In June, ESPN reported that Malik Beasley was under federal investigation on allegations of gambling related to NBA games and prop bets. Two months later, Beasley’s attorney said he was no longer a target of the investigation. The NBA has since launched its own investigation into Beasley.
What about the ongoing college basketball investigations?
Purdum: ESPN previously reported that some of the same gambling accounts that bet on Rozier and Porter props also bet on college basketball games that were flagged for suspicious betting. Sources told ESPN that the FBI has been interviewing college athletes and that they believe indictments are forthcoming.
How does this impact the Trail Blazers moving forward?
Tim Bontemps: From an on-court perspective, the biggest ramification is Billups’ removal from the sidelines for one of the NBA’s more intriguing young teams this season.
Portland, which has been an also-ran in the Western Conference for the past few years but was hoping to make a playoff push this season, traded for Jrue Holiday this offseason and signed Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara to extensions last week. Billups and general manager Joe Cronin received contract extensions earlier this year, as well.
The NBA placed Billups on leave, and Portland named assistant coach Tiago Splitter, who won two championships as a player with the Spurs and was the head coach of Paris Basketball in the Euroleague, as interim coach. The Blazers face the Golden State Warriors on Friday at home.
How will Rozier’s contract impact the Heat?
Bobby Marks: Rozier signed a four-year $96.3 million contract with Charlotte on Aug. 24, 2021, and then was traded to Miami on Jan. 23, 2024. He has one year and $26.6 million left, $24.9 million, which is guaranteed. He is owed 24 payments of $1,110,126, starting Nov. 15 and concluding on Nov. 1, 2026. Including this season, Rozier has a career $161.7 million of on-court earnings.
The Uniform Player Contract (UPC) that Rozier signed has language that gives commissioner Adam Silver sole power in his discretion to suspend Rozier indefinitely or to expel him if he has bet, or has offered to bet, money or anything of value on any NBA game. There is also language in the NBA Operations Manual that prohibits any player, coach and team executive from “tipping” information that could be used in connection with betting on NBA league games. “Tipping,” is the disclosure of “confidential information” to any person who does not have a legitimate business need for the information.
If the league determines that Rozier has violated this rule, it is allowed to expel him from the NBA. His $26.6 million salary would then be removed from the salary cap. The Heat are currently $1.6 million below the luxury tax and $7.2 million under the first apron hard cap. They currently have an open roster spot.
Although Rozier has not been found guilty, the NBA banned Porter nearly three months before he pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in connection to the same gambling case.
In the meantime, the NBA placed Rozier on immediate leave.
What’s the NBA’s relationship with sports betting?
Greenberg: “We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the NBA said in a statement Thursday. “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
The NBA was the first major American sports league to endorse legalized sports betting. In 2014, four years before the beginning of legalized online sports betting in the United States, Silver penned an op-ed for the New York Times titled “Legalize and Regulate Sports Betting.”
“Let me be clear: Any new approach must ensure the integrity of the game,” Silver wrote at the time. “One of my most important responsibilities as commissioner of the NBA is to protect the integrity of professional basketball and preserve public confidence in the league and our sport. I oppose any course of action that would compromise these objectives.”
In reaction to the Porter case, the NBA asked its partner sportsbooks to stop allowing bettors to wager on the under on prop bets involving players on two-way contracts, like Porter was at the time.
On Tuesday, during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Silver again called for more federal regulation of sports betting and urged sportsbooks to “pull back some of the prop bets” in order to avoid potential manipulation.
Why do federal authorities consider the sportsbooks to be “victims” in this case?
Greenberg: The federal investigation considers sportsbooks to be the victims in the NBA case because the bets placed by the co-conspirators were considered to be fraudulent due to the nonpublic nature of their insider information, according to the indictment.
“The sportsbooks themselves are victims in this case,” Nocella said at Thursday’s news conference on the indictments. “As far as our investigation has concluded, they did not perpetrate anything unlawful.”
DraftKings and FanDuel, both official gaming partners of the NBA, as well as the American Gaming Association, released statements to ESPN regarding the indictments, generally lauding regulated online sports betting for its ability to detect potentially illegal betting activity, while condemning the illegal market that has no such protections.
Neither sportsbook would publicly commit to any changes to its player prop offerings, but a DraftKings spokesperson said the company “remains committed to working closely with the league to ensure the continued integrity of the game.”
