By Courtney Knight
Boston University News Service
Less than 24 hours after the Portland Trailblazers and the Miami Heat each took their first loss of the new season, the teams suffered another blow. Trailblazer’s head coach Chauncey Billups and Heat point guard Terry Rozier were among several NBA affiliates arrested by the FBI in connection with illegal game-betting schemes and rigged poker games tied to New York crime families.
In a press conference held on Thursday morning, FBI Director Kash Patel called it a “mind-boggling” case that the government would take heat for bringing to trial.
The indictments named more than 30 defendants across two separate cases.
“Operation Royal Flush,” as the government calls it, seems like a cross between a deleted scene from “Goodfellas” and George Clooney’s “Ocean’s Eleven.” Members of the Cosa Nostra — the nickname for New York’s organized crime network, which includes the Lucchese and Gambino families — were said to have set up underground poker games that cheated players out of millions of dollars.
As NBC reports, the federal indictment alleges that the rigged games used a range of techniques to cheat – including altered poker chip trays and X-ray tables capable of reading cards, a hacked shuffling machine, and special contact lenses designed to detect marked cards.
The likes of Chauncey Billups and, as later revealed, Damon Jones, were allegedly used as a neon sign to attract participants to the games. The prosecution asserts that victims willing to play big were lured in by the presence of former athletes, with these “face cards” secretly playing on the house’s side.
At the press conference held on the day of the arrests, New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch said that with the help of new technologies expanding the reach of their operation, the case reflects a continuation of old mob traditions.
“Victims believed they were sitting at a fair table and instead they were cheated out of millions,” Tisch said. “And when people refused to pay these defendants did what organized crime has always done, they used threats, they used intimidation and they used violence.”
According to CNN, one victim who had yet to pay their gambling debt was reportedly punched in the face by defendant Zhen Hu. Hu, a Brooklyn resident, is accused of organizing some of the games. The unnamed victim also texted Hu, claiming he had “sent a bunch of goons” to handle the situation.
The NBA saw a different illegal poker scandal just a few months ago when three-time All-Star turned podcaster Gilbert Arenas was arrested in June for allegedly renting out one of his mansions to host high-stakes games.
Assistant director in charge of the FBI New York Field Office, Christopher Raia, called this a historic case in the fight against organized crime.
“The FBI has not and will never take their eye off the ball when it comes to Italian organized crime in this city,” said Raia.
The second case packaged with the poker scheme has been dubbed “Operation Nothing But Bet,” in which defendants are accused of exploiting confidential information about NBA teams and players to secure winning bets on online gambling platforms.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. of the Eastern District of New York said insider information included tips on when players were planning to sit out of future games, or when players would pull themselves out for purported illness or injury.
Federal agents cite a March 2023 game when Terry Rozier was still with the Charlotte Hornets as an example of a player leaving a game early and later benefiting from a bet placed on his underperformance.
The prosecution’s accusations against Rozier are similar to those that led to former Toronto Raptors Jontay Porter receiving a lifetime NBA ban. Porter pleaded guilty to illegal betting, specifically to leaving a game for the sake of wagers.
Beyond the NBA, professional sports leagues are no strangers to figures in the game getting entangled in unsanctioned gambling. NFL cornerback Isaiah Rodgers was suspended, and later reinstated, for placing bets on games involving the Indianapolis Colts, his team at the time. Rodgers later claimed he had placed the bets on his account on behalf of other people.
Just two years ago, hockey had its turn when Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto was handed a 41 game suspension for proxy betting, despite the league finding no evidence of him placing wagers on NHL games.
In June 2024, Tucupita Marcano made history as the first active MLB player in a century to be banned for life due to gambling. The league reported that Marcano wagered over $150,000 across 387 baseball bets, including wagers involving his own team.
Several athletes — including Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Kings guard Malik Monk, and even NBA superstar Kevin Durant — have previously spoken out about not caring about fans’ bets and parlays when criticized for “ruining” wagers. Still, there’s been a growing number of investigations into NBA players and their potential connections to prop betting.
Right now, there’s no telling whether this case will open the door to more players being implicated in what Kash Patel has called the NBA’s “insider trading saga.” It’s worth noting, however, that the league maintains official partnerships with several major sportsbooks — including FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Fanatics Sportsbook, ESPN Bet, and Caesars Sportsbook — which are heavily advertised to fans during commercial breaks, halftime shows, pregame coverage, and even inside arenas. In that context, it almost seems inevitable that some players might be tempted to dip their toes in as well.
It remains to be seen how these developments will play out, not only for the defendants but also in their potential ripple effects across professional sports leagues.
Following the arrests, both Billups and Rozier were placed on immediate leave by the NBA and later released on bond. Still, Patel stated that everyone involved will be held accountable and issued a warning to anyone else who may be engaging in similar activities.
“If you’re participating in a legal gambling industry you have nothing to worry about. If you’re participating in illegal conduct you’ve got everything to worry about and this case shows it,” Patel said at the conference.
You can watch the full press conference about the indictments here.
