Three people with connections to the NBA have been arrested by the FBI on Thursday (October 23).
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were three of 30 detained. According to CBS News, Billups and Jones were arrested for allegedly “taking part in illegal high-stakes poker games operated by organized crime” and Rozier was allegedly taken in for a “sports betting ring involving current and former NBA players trading inside, non-public information largely about injuries and illnesses.”
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FBI Director Kash Patel is explaining further, stating, “The FBI led a coordinated takedown across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing. Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA, but we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra to include the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families.”
The NBA has also released a statement. Rozier and Billups have been placed on leave.
The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/vJ4bL2JwiC
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) October 23, 2025
U.S. attorney Joseph Nocella said, “The mafia … had preexisting control over non-rigged, illegal poker games around New York City. As a result, they also became involved in the rigged poker games, helping to organize the games and taking a cut of the proceedings — and working to enforce the collection of debts.”
Meanwhile, “Rozier and Jones allegedly passed inside information to four co-defendants, who are accused of passing the information to a network of sports bettors,” ABC News reports.
Rozier‘s lawyer said in response, “A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication,” Rozier’s lawyer, James Trusty, said in a statement. “They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel. They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.”
Source: justjared.com