Worries about the spreading popularity of sports betting grew Thursday when a Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers Coach Chauncey Billups, and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones were charged in an ongoing FBI investigation involving illegal betting and rigged poker games that allegedly involve the Mafia.
The charges in the cross-country investigation include wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, and illegal gambling. The investigation spanned across 11 states and lasted for years. Four mafia families were cited by FBI Director Kash Patel, and a total of 34 people have been charged.
The NBA released a statement confirming that Rozier and Billups have been placed on leave from their teams.
Rozier and Jones, along with four others, have been charged with using insider NBA information, such as injury reports, to take part in illegal betting. Rozier allegedly told his co-conspirators in advance that he was going to leave a game and later left the game in the first quarter.
Billups was allegedly involved in rigged illegal poker games backed by the Mafia.
This is not the first recent betting scandal for the NBA. Last year, Jontay Porter, formerly of the Toronto Raptors, was permanently banned from the NBA for illegal betting violations.
These issues raise concerns about the growing popularity and accessibility of online betting.
Betting is everywhere, and it is very easy for a player or coach to simply let someone know inside information, especially about player injuries and whether the player will compete in that night’s game.
Because the incentive to take such an easy move can make so much money, it will never go away. As a result, sports are at risk of losing their authenticity and credibility.
From 2020 to 2024, the leading sports betting app, FanDuel, had 23 million downloads. In March 2025, FanDuel had a handle, or amount wagered, of about $862 million in just the state of New York.
The biggest problem with online betting is that there is no way to restrict it, since it is legal. These kinds of gambling problems will continue to grow and affect the NBA, along with other sports leagues.
If the problem continues growing at the rate it has, it is not out of the question that more important moments, such as championships, could be rigged.
