A sweeping FBI investigation has exposed one of the most serious corruption scandals in U.S. sports history, according to multiple reports from credible outlets this week.
More than 30 people across 11 states — including Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier — have been arrested in a network fed by some of New York’s most notorious Mafia families (Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese). Prosecutors say it involved rigged poker games, insider NBA information, and fraudulent bets.
This is the full, "mind-boggling" explainer regarding one of the biggest NBA scandals in years, and it could extend even further, according to one commentator — a renowned poker broadcaster.
Explained: Everything You Need to Know About The NBA, Mafia, & FBI
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A federal indictment unsealed in Brooklyn this week exposed a sprawling gambling and fraud network that reaches into the heart of American basketball. Chauncey Billups, now coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was among 31 defendants charged for allegedly participating in illegal poker games linked to mafia families including the Bonnano, Genovese and Gambino clans, according to Reuters.
The rings dating back to 2019 are said to have used rigged shuffling machines, X-ray-capable tables and “face cards”, and alleges that high-profile NBA players and coaches recruited to lend credibility to the rigged games. Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat faces separate but related charges, meanwhile, involving insider tips and gambling on games in which he played, per Reuters.
FBI Director Kash Patel commented on the scheme, saying the group used technology and muscle to fleece victims of at least $7 million. "The fraud is mind-boggling," he said, according to the Associated Press. "It’s not hundreds of dollars. It’s not thousands of dollars. It’s not tens of thousands of dollars or even millions of dollars."
FBI boss Kash Patel
"We are talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud, theft and robbery across a multi-year investigation."
The NBA has placed Billups and Rozier on leave and says it is cooperating with authorities. "We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today," the NBA said in a statement, again via AP. "Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities.
"We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority."
The poker world was swift to react to the news. And footage from 2023 of prominent player Matt Berkey speaking on a podcast about Billups re-emerged on Thursday, the 23rd of October. Berkey spoke of a game that started in LA, went to Vegas for a few days, and was "built around Chauncey Billups." Berkey said he heard about the game, and was told "100% the game is on the up and up." But said, through his own due dilligence, that "it was not on the up and up."
"It was obviously was for sure confirmed to be cheating. People who clearly don't even understand No-Limit Hold'Em jamming hundreds of big blinds in, with a gutty, and then drilling it. Only the pros are losing."
Ryan Feldman, the owner and producer of popular poker stream Hustler Casino Live from Los Angeles, also suggested that the investigation may be far from complete, possibly implicating people in other sports. "I heard about these rigged private games a few years ago in Vegas and Miami," Feldman tweeted.
"Don't be surprised if … a certain boxer gets arrested, too."
The case continues.