Inside the Game: N.B.A. Stars, Mafia Families, and the High-Stakes World of Illegal Betting
More than 30 individuals were indicted in a case involving insider betting on basketball games and rigged poker games orchestrated by Mafia families. The indictments revealed two separate schemes where current and former N.B.A. players and coaches collaborated with associates to defraud gamblers and online betting firms of millions of dollars. One indictment implicated an N.B.A. player and a former coach in trading inside information on games to win substantial bets with sports betting companies, while the other charged a prominent head coach, Chauncey Billups, with involvement in rigged poker games organized by Mafia families that swindled victims out of at least $7 million.
Chauncey Billups, known as "Mr. Big Shot" for his clutch performances during his nearly two-decade N.B.A. career, rose to prominence after joining the Detroit Pistons in 2002. In a surprising turn of events, federal authorities unveiled charges against a group of gangsters from Mafia families in New York City, including top leaders, made men, and associates, for orchestrating a sophisticated scheme to manipulate illegal poker games and amass millions of dollars. The victims were enticed to high-stakes tables by the presence of current and former N.B.A. stars, according to officials.
Terry Rozier, a Miami Heat guard, came under scrutiny when U.S. Integrity, a firm hired by the N.B.A. to monitor gambling anomalies, detected suspicious activity in 2023 related to bets placed on his performance. Despite an investigation, the league could not substantiate any wrongdoing by Rozier and refrained from penalizing him. An indictment unsealed in Brooklyn suggested that fraudulent bets may have been placed based on inside information about N.B.A. star LeBron James, although James himself was not implicated in any misconduct.
The indictments unveiled a case dubbed "Nothing but bet," accusing Terry Rozier and Damon Jones, a former N.B.A. player and coach, of selling confidential information about games and players to gamblers who used the inside information to place bets. The revelations in the indictments were deemed "deeply disturbing" by a spokesman for FanDuel, the largest sports betting operator in the U.S., who emphasized the company's commitment to upholding integrity and fair play in sports.
The charges in the indictments varied significantly in terms of the sums of money involved. Prosecutors indicated that the charges related to gambling on N.B.A. games using illicit inside information were based on fraudulent wagers totaling a few hundred thousand dollars, while the scheme involving rigged poker games defrauded participants of at least $7 million. The president of the American Gaming Association commended state and federal authorities for exposing the alleged sports betting and poker game rigging schemes.
Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, advocated for stricter oversight of gambling in the sport, particularly concerning prop bets involving lower-paid players. The history of sports has been marred by betting scandals, with one of the most infamous instances occurring in 1919 when members of the Chicago White Sox conspired to fix games during the World Series. The recent indictments shed light on separate schemes involving private information about N.B.A. players for betting purposes and rigged high-stakes poker games orchestrated by organized crime families.