Everything we know about the NBA's illegal gambling scandal: who's involved, accusations, connections to the Italian-American mafia...

The NBA has suffered one of the biggest scandals in its recent history in recent days. The FBI arrested more than thirty people for various cases of illegal gambling and poker game fixing , and among those arrested were Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups .

Details of both cases and context

On Thursday morning, the FBI launched a wave of arrests across the United States related to the gambling world.

First, 31 people have been charged with participating in a poker match-fixing ring that also involved money laundering, wire fraud, and extortion , according to FBI Director Kash Patel. Players would be lured to the games with the promise of playing against celebrities, but organizers would determine the outcome using rigged decks and "x-ray tables."

The other case, different but linked through the participation of the same mafia families, raised funds through illegal sports betting, facilitated by privileged information from NBA insiders . Six people have been arrested in this connection.

Participation of NBA stars

Chauncey Billups is accused of participating in the poker games in question . There are still questions about whether the 2004 Finals MVP and Hall of Famer benefited from the manipulation, or whether he knew about it, and if so, whether he actively participated in it.

Terry Rozier, for his part, had already been investigated for suspicious behavior during a game between the Charlotte Hornets, his team in 2023, and the New Orleans Pelicans. The point guard allegedly allowed a bet of more than $200,000 against him achieving certain stats to be successful, only to leave the game early due to an alleged injury .

It is worth noting that Damon Jones , an NBA player from 1999 to 2009 and assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2016 to 2018, has been accused of participating in both cases of the betting scheme.

Italian-American mafia involvement

The poker games and illegal gambling were directed, according to the indictment, by the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese families , four of the Five Families that manage the activities of Cosa Nostra (the Sicilian Mafia) in New York, a city where they have dominated organized crime since their arrival in the 19th century, although their power has diminished considerably in recent decades.

The illegal activities affecting the NBA were carried out in New York, where the Five Families control several high-stakes poker games, as well as in other US cities, such as Las Vegas and Miami. The criminal organizations allegedly profited from the gambling, extorted and robbed to appropriate the sums owed to them, and laundered money, among other methods, using cryptocurrencies .