Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday in connection with two major federal gambling investigations, one of which involved Mafia crime families, federal authorities in New York said Thursday.
Also arrested, for both cases, was former NBA player Damon Jones, who is accused in the case involving Rozier of leaking medical information about Los Angeles Lakers stars to sports bettors while acting as an unofficial coach for the team.
The indictment also suggests that Jones leaked information to sports bettors about the injury status of Lakers superstars LeBron James before a February 2023 game, and about Lakers player Anthony Davis before a January 2024 game.
Former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter was previously charged in the sports gambling scheme. Porter pleaded guilty in July 2024 to wire fraud conspiracy.
Billups is one of 31 defendants, some of whom are alleged Mafia members, and Jones, of participating in a nationwide scheme to rig poker games with “high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in underground poker games,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said at a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel.
FBI Director Kash Patel (R) leads news conference to announce arrests tied to illegal sports betting and poker game schemes, in New York City on October 23, 2025.
Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images
That technology included poker chip tray analyzers and tampered shuffling machines that could send information about players’ hands to an off-site operator, Nocella said.
The defendants also used special glasses or contact lenses “that could read pre-marked cards, and an x-ray table that could read cards face down on the table,” he said.
The games that took place in the New York area were backed by the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families, he said.
An x-ray poker table.
Courtesy: U.S. Department of Justice
Rozier 31, and Billups 49, “are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities,” the NBA said in a statement.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said.
Head coach Chauncey Billups of the Portland Trail Blazers reacts during the first quarter of the preseason game against the Golden State Warriors at the Moda Center on October 14, 2025 in Portland, Oregon.
Alika Jenner | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Billups, a former player for the Detroit Pistons who spent 17 years in the NBA, was arrested in Portland, Oregon. A five-time All-Star, Billups was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Billups was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 2004 when the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the league’s finals.
He is charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
Rozier, a 10-year NBA veteran, reportedly had been eyed for months over suspicious sports betting activity related to his play before his arrest.
He is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Rozier was arrested in Orlando, Florida, and released from custody after making his initial appearance in federal court in that city on Thursday afternoon. A magistrate judge required Rozier to post his $6 million house in the state as collateral for a bond. He did not enter a plea.
Terry Rozier #2 of the Miami Heat dribbles the ball during the second half in a preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Kaseya Center on October 17, 2025 in Miami, Florida.
Tomas Diniz Santos | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
Jim Trusty, an attorney for Rozier, told CNBC in a statement that prosecutors “appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing.”
“Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight,” Trusty said.
— CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed reporting.
