The NBA has been rocked by a gambling scandal after the FBI announced federal charges against Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier in separate cases. And with Inside the NBA now a part of ESPN’s coverage, the cast was able to take a deep dive into the controversy.
And true to form, the Inside the NBA team held nothing back, even when it came to debating one another on the federal case and the state of sports betting scandals.
Billups is charged with taking part in an illegal, rigged poker game while Rozier is alleged to have pulled himself out of a game so that under bets would cash, similar to the scheme that saw Jontay Porter banned from the league last season. However, Billups fits the description of an unnamed co-conspirator in the sports betting case, at least adding suspicion that the two may be linked in some way.
After reading the two DOJ indictments, it seems pretty clear that Chauncey Billups is a central figure in both the poker and betting investigations (which are intertwined in multiple other ways). He isn’t named in the latter, but the allegations for “Co-Conspirator 8” are huge: pic.twitter.com/3KGPUKWUO6
— Pablo Torre 👀 (@PabloTorre) October 23, 2025
On Inside the NBA before Thursday night’s game action, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley debated the scandal and the behavior at the center of it. Smith talked about the illogical decision of a player in Rozier’s situation jeopardizing tens of millions of dollars while Barkley blamed pure stupidity on their behalf, and even referenced his own gambling experience.
Kenny Smith on the NBA betting scandal: “We have to realize gambling is an addiction. The addiction of it is what makes you make illogical decisions…”
Charles Barkley: “That’s not addiction. That’s stupidity… You can’t fix basketball games… That’s just total… pic.twitter.com/0z27urhGw1
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 23, 2025
“We’re surprised because when you have access, and you’re at the top of the game so to speak as a coach and professional player or whatever, you’re at the top of your game, you have access to millions and millions of dollars in this league. So it was surprising that they would put themselves in that position, possibly. And then it’s innocent until proven guilty,” Smith said.
“We have to realize gambling is an addiction,” he added. “The addiction of it is what makes you make illogical decisions… gambling is an addiction which can make you make illogical decisions regardless of your ethnic background, regardless of your physical background, and regardless of your financial status. So let’s understand that.”
Charles Barkley then interjected to bring a different perspective, saying that a gambling addiction was not to blame, even talking about his own history with it to make his point. He also showed his displeasure by saying Smith’s comments about gambling addictions were making him mad.
“The reason I’m mad at Kenny is this ain’t got nothing to do with damn gambling addiction, this ain’t got nothing to do with addiction. These dudes are stupid,” Barkley said.
“Under no circumstances can you fix basketball games. Under no circumstances. I love to gamble, the notion, Rozier makes $26 million. Him betting, giving people information or taking yourself out of games, how much is he going to benefit taking himself out of the game to get unders? He’s making $26 million!” Barkley exclaimed.
“You’re proving my point,” Smith answered. “That’s an illogical thought process. If you’re making $26 million to win $50,000. That’s illogical. So you’re proving my point. It’s addiction.
“That’s not addiction, that’s stupidity,” Barkley said.
Let’s be honest, nobody is really equipped to cover a sports betting scandal in 2025. The network had an awkward moment when ESPN Bet was heavily featured on screen while discussing the story. And Stephen A. Smith led a wild edition of First Takewithout any guardrails.
And as raw and honest as this Inside the NBA discussion was, sports media needs to take a very quick and decisive look in the mirror and ask themselves if these kind of debates – with former players giving unfiltered thoughts on whether or not gambling can be an addiction – are helpful to informing and educating viewers or not.
Because the entire sports world has just been hit by a haymaker when it comes to gambling scandals. And there could be much more to come.