Breaking: Prosecutors Unveil Massive NBA Gambling Bust
Posted on: October 23, 2025, 08:35h.
Last updated on: October 23, 2025, 01:08h.
- Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested at an Orlando hotel on Thursday morning
- Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was, meanwhile, arrested by the FBI in Oregon
- The FBI will announce more details at a news conference on Thursday
In a stunning announcement seemingly right out of “GoodFellas,” Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups were among those arrested Thursday morning as part of sweeping FBI investigations into illegal gambling that spanned 11 states, allegedly involving mafia families.
FBI director Kash Patel held a Thursday morning news conference in New York announcing the details.
The fraud is mind-boggling,” Patel said. “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 tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft, and robbery across a multiyear investigation.
“The charges and the arrests that were taken down across the country range from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, and illegal gambling. The FBI will leave no room for any perpetrator of crime across this country.”
Patel said a coordinated FBI takedown across 11 states led to the arrest of 30 individuals, a culmination of an investigation that went on for years, and is ongoing.
Mafia Takedown
“Not only did we crack into the fraud these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA, but we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra to include the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families,” he said.
Rozier was arrested at an Orlando hotel. He’ll appear in court later today. Law enforcement officers told ABC News that Rozier was among a group of people charged with running a criminal gambling operation using inside information to place unlawful wagers on NBA games.
According to ABC, Billups was arrested in Oregon in connection with an illegal poker operation tied to the mafia. According to reporting Billups did not bet on games in which he played or coached. The FBI says former athletes like Billups were used to recruit participants for rigged poker games where they were defrauded money.
Rozier in Last Year of Contract
The Heat played the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, but Rozier sat out the game with a hamstring injury.
Rozier is in his 11th season in the NBA and was a key part of the Boston Celtics’ playoff runs from 2016-19.
He signed a four-year, US$96.3 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets in 2021, and was traded to the Heat in January 2024. He is set to earn a base salary of US$26.6 million this season with the Heat, which is the last year of that deal.
Surge of Betting in 2023 Hornets Game
When Rozier was with the Hornets before a March 23, 2023, game against the New Orleans Pelicans, ESPN reported that sportsbooks in multiple states flagged suspicious betting patterns on his statistics.
There was an unexpected surge of bets, including 30 wagers in 46 minutes, by a professional bettor totaling $13,759, coming in on the under on Rozier’ points, rebounds, and assists. That caused sportsbooks to halt betting on Rozier. The guard played 10 minutes that night before leaving the game, saying he had a foot injury.
According to the NYPD, Rozier faked the injury to leave that game early.
Rozier’s lawyer said his client previously met with NBA and FBI officials, and the NBA said it found that no league rules had been broken after looking into the matter.
Porter Sentencing this December
The charges come just a year after the NBA banned former Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter for life. Porter pleaded guilty in July 2024 to conspiracy charges related to betting on games and leaking information about his own injuries to influence prop bets.
Porter attempted to play professional basketball in Greece after pleading guilty, but that was denied by a federal judge. Porter is awaiting sentencing in December.
Sports broadcaster Jim Gray pointed to the potential massive impacts on the integrity of NBA games and pro sports leagues in general.
All of these sports leagues, and in this instance the NBA, are dependent on the games being real, not being fixed,” Gray told Fox News. “Once you lose the confidence of the public, that the games are not real, that they can be thrown, you just have a huge, huge issue. That’s the biggest concern here. This is very dangerous and problematic.”
Gray added that NBA commissioner Adam Silver must be “beyond concerned.”
Beasley Not Arrested
Former NBA player Damon Jones was also arrested, with the FBI saying he was part of an illegal sports betting and gambling investigation, the details of which are unknown.
NBA player Malik Beasley, who was part of an FBI investigation into illegal gambling earlier this year, was not arrested today. A source told The Sporting News that the league investigation into Beasley didn’t find anything but it also hasn’t been technically closed, that the league deferred to the separate FBI investigation, and that Beasley voluntarily handed his phone over to league investigators.
Beasley played last season with the Detroit Pistons and is currently a free agent.
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