- Portland coach Chauncey Billups and Miami’s Terry Rozier have been arrested in a gambling investigation.
- Billups and Rozier were arrested in separate investigations, while former player/coach Damon Jones is tied to Rozier.
- It seems like this story is just starting to unravel, and there could be more names released soon.
Portland’s head coach Chauncey Billups and guard Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday morning in separate gambling investigations.
Former player/coach Damon Jones has also been arrested in what seems to be the beginning of a much bigger scandal.
Billups Investigation Separate from Rozier and Jones
The bombshell news came out on ABC News early Thursday morning.
Billups is charged with an illegal poker operation that allegedly has ties with the Mafia. He was on the bench for the Trail Blazers for their season-opening 118-114 loss to Minnesota at home on Wednesday night.
Billups played 15 years in the NBA, winning Finals MVP when Detroit won the title in 2004. He is also in the Hall of Fame and just started his fifth season as head coach in Portland.
Rozier, a guard for the Miami Heat, is one of six people charged with “turning professional basketball into a criminal gambling operation by using inside information to place unlawful wagers,” says the ABC News report.
This story goes back to January 2025, when the news broke that Rozier was being investigated for “potential gambling manipulation.” These allegations stem from a March 23, 2023, game when Rozier was with the Charlotte Hornets.
Rozier played just under ten minutes in that game before leaving with a foot injury, so the investigation is likely due to movement on Rozier-related props at NBA betting sites. Rozier didn’t play in Miami’s 125-121 loss in their season opener in Orlando because of a hamstring injury. He is entering his 11th season in the NBA.
Jones was arrested in the same investigation as Rozier, and he is being charged with giving inside information to other people to make bets on sports. He played for 11 seasons in the NBA, for ten teams, and was an assistant coach in Cleveland from 2016 to 2018. It is alleged that Jones gave information to sports bettors regarding a February 9, 2023 game involving LeBron James, who missed the game with ankle soreness. James and Jones were teammates in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008, and are reportedly still good friends.
This Is Likely Not the End of This NBA Gambling Investigation
It should also be noted that the Rozier/Jones investigation is an offshoot of the investigation that got former Toronto Raptors’ player Jontay Porter banned from the NBA in 2024. He pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last year and will likely face prison time when he is sentenced in December 2025.
This story is very intriguing, but the Billups one might take the cake. There aren’t many details out yet, but the idea that he was involved with the Mafia in a poker ring is something that the sports betting world is going to have an eye on.
It doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with online sports betting, and it doesn’t have anything to do with betting on basketball games. This is probably a relief to NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
But this is still a big story about the NBA, and sports in general. MLB fired umpire Pat Hoberg over gambling violations in February 2025. The Cleveland Guardians had Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz placed on leave this season for gambling investigations. Billups is a former NBA champion and Hall of Famer, and is allegedly connected to the Mafia. This is not a good look for the league and US sports as a whole.
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