- Former and current NBA players and mobsters were indicted in sports betting schemes.
- Current NBA coach Chauncey Billups allegedly helped lure unsuspecting gamblers into rigged poker games.
- Authorities says the alleged gambling schemes erode the integrity of sports.
On March 23, 2023, Charlotte Hornets starter Terry Rozier told his childhood friend Deniro Laster he planned to leave the game that night against the New Orleans Pelicans early due to an injury.
Laster, also known as “Niro,” “Payso,” and “Peso,” according to court documents, and two others used that information to place and direct more than $200,000 in bets predicting Rozier’s “under” statistics, meaning he would underperform.
Rozier exited the game after nine minutes with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Federal prosecutors say many of the bets paid off, generating tens of thousands of dollars in profits. Laster collected the cash and drove through the night to Rozier’s house, where they counted the winnings together.
That is one of the activities alleged in a federal indictment Thursday charging current and former NBA players in a widespread sports betting and money laundering conspiracy. Rozier, who now plays for the Miami Heat, was one of six charged for their alleged roles in a scheme to use inside information from NBA players and coaches to profit from illegal betting.
Federal agents dubbed the case “Operation Nothing But Bet.” In total, seven different NBA games in 2023 and 2024 were part of the investigation, though Rozier, whose nicknames in the indictment are “Scary Terry” and “Chum,” played in only one of them.
The indictment was one of two filed Thursday in federal court in New York alleging illegal gambling involving high-profile athletes, including Hall of Famer and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.
In that case, dubbed “Operation Royal Flush,” Billups and 30 others, including members of organized crime, were charged in schemes to rig illegal poker games. Defendants’ nicknames include “The Wrestler,” “Juice,” “Big Bruce” and “Pookie,” according to the indictment.
The two cases led to arrests in 11 states on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery and illegal gambling, FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference, per NBC News. He referred to the alleged wrongdoing as a “criminal enterprise that envelops both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra” or Mafia organized crime families.
Eroding the integrity of sports
“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 about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multiyear investigation.”
New York U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said Rozier and others “turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation,” exploiting private locker rooms and medical information to enrich themselves and cheat legitimate sportsbooks.
“Insider betting schemes erode the integrity of American sports,” he said.
Nocella called that alleged conspiracy “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”
New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said rigging a professional basketball game for personal gain is as immoral as it is illegal
“This investigation exposed a gambling ring built around the NBA, where players and associates allegedly used inside information and even faked injuries to fraudulently manipulate bets on games,” she said. “The fact that some players altered their performance or took themselves out of games to ensure these bets paid out is an offense to every player and fan.”
Alleged Mafia involvement in sports
In the poker case, Billups and former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones are accused of using their celebrity to lure people into playing in poker games that were rigged by the Mafia, Nocella said.
“Well-known former NBA players and former professional athletes, acted as ‘Face Cards’ to lure unsuspecting victims to high-stakes poker games, where they were then at the mercy of concealed technology, including rigged shuffling machines and specially designed contacts lenses and sunglasses to read the backs of playing cards, which ensured that the victims would lose big,” he said.
Billups is not named in the basketball betting case but a defendant referred to in the indictment as “Co-Conspirator 8″ matches his description.
The big-money card games Billups was allegedly involved in cheated unsuspecting gamblers out of at least $7 million and included violent robberies, prosecutors said.
“Members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese Crime Families used threats and intimidation to assure payment of debts from the Rigged Games and the ‘square’ illegal poker games organized” by the defendants, according to the indictment.
With the alleged involvement of three La Cosa Nostra crime families, an NBA head coach and Hall of Famer, as well as other current and former professional athletes, the four-year investigation culminating in the indictment is “reminiscent of a Hollywood movie,” said Ricky Patel, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New York.
“But this was not luck, and it was not theatrics.”
NBA player, coach placed on leave
The alleged fraud, however, doesn’t compare to how much money Billups and Rozier earned over their careers.
Billups made about $106 million over his 17-year career, while Rozier pulled in about $160 million in his stops in Boston, Miami and Charlotte.
Both have been placed on leave from their teams, according to the NBA, which said it is cooperating with authorities.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said in a statement.