The NBA is facing one of the biggest betting scandals in its modern history after federal authorities charged more than 30 people, including current players, coaches, and members of organized crime families, in a pair of coordinated operations across 11 US states.
Among those arrested were Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and former player and coach Damon Jones.
The arrests stem from two overlapping investigations, one targeting a ring accused of using inside information from NBA locker rooms to manipulate prop bets, and another focused on a series of rigged high-stakes poker games connected to the La Cosa Nostra crime syndicate.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the FBI’s “Operation Zhen Diagram” and “Operation Nothing But Net” uncovered an elaborate scheme that allegedly saw players and coaches pass on non-public information about injuries, playing time, and lineup decisions to criminal associates who placed wagers worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The winnings were then laundered through various channels, including cryptocurrency, to obscure their origin.
FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators “followed the money” and uncovered a sprawling network of conspirators who “used their access and influence within professional basketball to enrich organized crime.”
Court documents outline several NBA games suspected of having been influenced. One was a March 23rd, 2023 matchup between the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans, during which Rozier played just over nine minutes before exiting the game, citing a foot injury. Federal prosecutors allege Rozier had already tipped off an associate, Deniro Laster, that he would leave the game early, prompting over $200,000 in bets on his underperformance. The wagers reportedly generated tens of thousands of dollars in profit.
Another suspicious contest took place the following night, March 24th, 2023, when insiders allegedly shared that several Trail Blazers players would sit out a game against the Chicago Bulls. Before the information became public, a conspirator named Marves Fairley is said to have placed over $100,000 in bets against Portland, resulting in what the Department of Justice called “major winnings.”
Additional incidents cited in the indictment involve Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, and Toronto Raptors games between early 2023 and early 2024. In one case, former Lakers assistant Damon Jones allegedly leaked confidential medical information about player availability, while in another, then-Raptors forward Jontay Porter informed associates that he would pull himself from two games early. Porter has since pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and received a lifetime ban from the league. Prosecutors claim that, taken together, these actions transformed professional basketball “into a criminal betting operation,” eroding the integrity of competition and defrauding legitimate sportsbooks.
Parallel to the betting allegations, a second indictment accuses Billups, Jones, and several others of participating in rigged underground poker games backed by members of prominent New York crime families.
Investigators say the games were manipulated using X-ray tables, rigged shuffling devices, and pre-marked cards to ensure that victims – dubbed “fish” – could not win. The scheme used recognizable former athletes as “face cards” to lure wealthy participants into the games under the illusion of playing alongside celebrities. Federal prosecutors allege that millions of dollars were stolen through this setup and later laundered into crypto wallets or offshore accounts. Billups, who earned over $106 million during his 17-year playing career and roughly $4.75 million annually as Portland’s head coach, was reportedly one of those acting as a “face card.”
The fallout was immediate. The NBA placed both Rozier and Billups on leave pending review, emphasizing in a statement that “the integrity of our game remains our top priority.” The Trail Blazers announced that assistant coach Tiago Splitter would serve as interim head coach, while the Miami Heat deferred comment to the league. At the same time, Rozier’s attorney, James Trusty of Ifrah Law PLLC, sharply criticized the FBI’s handling of the arrest, calling it “a photo op” meant to “embarrass a professional athlete.” He argued that Rozier had been cleared by the NBA earlier in the year when the league conducted its own investigation into the same March 2023 game and found no rule violations. “Terry is not a gambler,” Trusty said, “but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this one.”
Billups appeared in an Oregon court shortly after his arrest, where he was released on bond under conditions including surrendering his passport and avoiding any contact with co-defendants. His lawyer, Chris Heywood, described the conditions as “standard and common” and urged the public not to “draw conclusions from this.” Meanwhile, Damon Jones, who played for 10 NBA teams between 1998 and 2009, is accused of helping the group obtain inside medical information on the Lakers to inform bets placed through a network of straw bettors.
The FBI said its confidential source recorded more than 3,000 phone calls and meetings with targets during the investigation, in some cases even joining the rigged poker games to collect evidence. Authorities believe the proceeds were laundered through a combination of cash transactions, shell companies, and cryptocurrency exchanges. “Your winning streak has ended,” said US Attorney Joseph Nocella during the press conference. “Violating the law is a losing proposition, and you can bet on that.”
The scandal has reignited debate about the growing influence of legalized sports betting in US professional leagues. Since the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports wagering in 2018, the NBA has inked partnerships with major operators including DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM, which now provide live data feeds and official betting markets tied directly to player performance. DraftKings, in response to the scandal, said it “takes the responsibility of reporting suspicious activity seriously” and pledged to continue cooperating with both regulators and the league.
US lawmakers were quick to weigh in. Senator Richard Blumenthal said the episode was a predictable result of “allowing the betting industry to become entrenched in every aspect of the game without meaningful guardrails.” Congressman Paul Tonko, a longtime critic of sports gambling expansion, echoed that sentiment, calling the scandal “inevitable” and urging the NBA to support new federal legislation regulating sports betting. “We need to give sports back to the American people,” Tonko said.
