As the 2025–26 NBA season tips off, the league finds itself facing a crisis after federal authorities announced a sweeping indictment linking current and former players to illegal betting activity in connection with the mafia.
According to the indictment, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is accused of passing along nonpublic, insider information in a sports wagering ring.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, there are two overlapping but related criminal schemes under investigation. One involves a decades-spanning illegal poker operation connected to organized crime. The other centers on prop betting in NBA games, using inside knowledge to help co-conspirators win bets.
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
Both have immediately been placed on leave by their teams, the NBA said.
“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the NBA said in a statement. “Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
The poker games were allegedly rigged in favor of those running the games, using advanced technology, such as rigged shuffling machines and even X-ray technology to read cards facing down on the table, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
Games were organized beginning in 2019 in the Hamptons, Manhattan, Las Vegas, and Miami, officials said.
“The fraud is mindboggling,” FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference in Brooklyn. “We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in theft, in fraud, in robbery.”
Billups coached the Trail Blazers in their season-opening loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Billups was a Hall of Fame player for the Detroit Pistons, before retiring in 2014. He was a five-time All-Star in his 17 years in the NBA and led the Pistons to the NBA title in 2004, being named Finals MVP.
“We are aware of the allegations involving head coach Chauncey Billups, and the Trail Blazers are fully cooperating with the investigation,” the Portland Trail Blazers said in a statement. “Billups has been placed on immediate leave, and Tiago Splitter will assume head coaching duties in the interim. Any further questions should be directed to the NBA.”
