The Heat guard is allegedly involved in illegal betting, while the former NBA star and now Portland coach is involved in illegal poker games with members of organized crime. The FBI: “Historic operation”

The NBA wakes up to a veritable tsunami that threatens to have devastating consequences. On Thursday morning, the FBI conducted an operation aimed at dismantling a ring of illegal betting and rigged poker games, and the net caught some big names in the National Basketball League: Heat guard Terry Rozier, who had long been rumored to be involved, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, and former player Damon Jones, the link between the two investigations.
Rozier, who was with the team in Orlando but did not take part in the Heat’s loss to the Magic, was arrested a few hours after the team returned to their hotel, while Billups was picked up by FBI agents in Portland. “This is a historic operation that began years ago and involved various agencies in 11 states,” said FBI Director Kash Patel at a press conference in New York, “with more than 30 people currently arrested.” There are truly incredible connections between sports figures, organized crime, and mafia families. In the illegal betting case, the name of Terry Rozier naturally comes up, reported by bookmakers for several suspicious bets in the game against the Pelicans on March 23, 2023, when he was playing for the Hornets, a match in which the player, now with the Heat, remained on the court for only 10 minutes before leaving due to what he claimed was a foot problem.

POKER WITH THE MAFIA—  Six people have been arrested in connection with the betting investigation that New York District Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. has called “one of the most brazen acts of corruption since sports betting became legal.” The investigation, called “Royal Flush,” is very complex and concerns a series of rigged poker games that allegedly began in 2019. U.S. authorities describe what closely resembles a Hollywood script involving historic New York mafia families, the Gambinos, the Bonannos, and the Genoveses, who allegedly organized games over the years, from New York to the Hamptons, Las Vegas, and Miami, attracting well-known names such as Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones, wealthy players, referred to in the documents as “fish,” who were systematically cleaned out through a series of sophisticated tricks in games whose outcome was already predetermined. Members of the mafia families also collected “debts” from the victims through intimidation, threats, and even violence, and then shared the proceeds with former NBA players Billups and Jones (referred to in the documents as “face cards”), who, according to federal authorities, were clearly aware of the crimes committed. “The NBA, which has already removed Rozier and Billups from their respective teams, cooperated with us,” concludes Joseph Nocella Jr., who also pointed out that in this operation, the large legal betting groups would only be the injured party. This is truly a bolt from the blue for the NBA at the start of what promises to be a very interesting season.