As the NBA attempts to deal with a betting scandal that threatens their integrity, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo says, at least Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t involved.
The NBA was rattled by a gambling scandal Thursday morning, with Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former guard/assistant coach Damon Jones being arrested in separate sports betting probes.
Rozier is accused of allegedly removing himself from a game in 2023 so a co-conspirator could win bets. Jones is being accused of allegedly trading inside information on a LeBron James’ injury in 2023. And Billups was arrested and charged in an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia.
This should be a big deal for the NBA, but it’s not for Russo, who downplayed the scandal Thursday afternoon on his SiriusXM Radio show.
Amazing 5 minutes of radio from Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on SiriusXM.
Says NBA gambling scandal is “not a big deal.”
Says this is “a lot to do about nothing.”
Mentions someone named Donk Itch
Doesn’t trust FBI.
Ends NBA discussion ton throw to interview with Torey Lovullo. pic.twitter.com/bqyynhFMUy
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) October 23, 2025
“From an NBA perspective, which is what everybody is grasping to because they think this is a big deal – this is not a big deal,” Russo insisted. “These are a couple of players, one of them who hasn’t played in eons in Damon Jones who never played, with injury reports. And Terry Rozier who is barely even a rotation player, who by the way was cleared by the NBA a long time ago on a similar prop bet thing. And it’s Chauncey Billups who was helping to nail stooges for the last six years with fake poker games. That’s all it is! It’s not like Giannis is involved. It’s not like Dončić is involved or Jokić is involved or Jalen Brunson is involved.”
Russo did, however, go on to call what Billups is accused of “a disgrace,” noting he should be jailed if convicted of aiding in rigging poker games to allegedly steal from unsuspecting wealthy people who were lured to the table by former professional athletes. But from an NBA perspective, Russo is basically saying, no biggie, because Billups will just be thrown out of the league.
“One rogue coach for the Portland Trail Blazers?” Russo said. “You’re gonna sit there and say this taints the league? No it doesn’t. Absolutely not! And nor does Rozier and nor does the other guy…you’re not gonna watch an NBA game now because Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones might be in trouble with the FBI? Oh come on, stop. That’s ridiculous.”
“You would think the way it was broadcasted that the whole league’s going down, the whole league ain’t going down!” Russo continued. “Until I see other examples of 30, 40, 50 NBA guys, officials, referees, players, assistant coaches, come on that’s ridiculous. And I’ll tell you something else, this is me from afar, I don’t trust the FBI director. That’s me. I don’t trust him. He’s a guy that barely got confirmed. He doesn’t have a ton of experience. He did podcasts. I don’t trust him.”
Even if you don’t trust Kash Patel, this scandal was being investigated before he was appointed to the position of FBI director, which should negate any belief that the uncovering of this takedown was motivated by Donald Trump’s revenge tour.
Maybe Russo was just eager to move on because he was broadcasting from the site of the World Series and had baseball on his mind. But this is a big deal.
It’s not the end of the NBA. Games were played Thursday night and the season will continue without Billups or Rozier. But anytime there is reason to question the integrity of a professional sports league, it is a very dangerous position for that league to be in. And that’s where the NBA is right now. 30, 40, 50 NBA guys being involved might ruin the league, but even just a few being involved in betting scandals are a few too many.