The NBA is facing one of its most seismic scandals in recent memory, as federal indictments unsealed on October 23, 2025, have implicated high-profile figures including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. The charges, which stem from two sprawling federal investigations, have sent shockwaves through the league and the broader sports world, raising urgent questions about the integrity of professional basketball and the reach of organized crime into the heart of America’s favorite pastime.
Billups and Rozier are among 34 individuals arrested and charged in connection with related but distinct gambling schemes. The cases, dubbed “Operation Royal Flush” and “Operation Nothing But Net” by federal authorities, involve a web of illegal activity from rigged poker games to insider sports betting, all allegedly underpinned by notorious New York Mafia families including the Bonanno, Genovese, Gambino, and Luchese clans. FBI Director Kash Patel did not mince words, calling it “one of the largest sports-betting stings in recent memory” and describing the fraud as “mind boggling,” with “tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multi-year investigation.”
According to prosecutors, Billups is accused of leveraging his celebrity status to lure high-rollers into underground poker games that were anything but fair. These games, stretching from the Hamptons to Las Vegas, reportedly employed fixed shuffling machines, X-ray technology, and even specialized poker chips and glasses to secretly read cards. The operation, authorities say, netted at least $7 million, with the mob allegedly stepping in with violence when players couldn’t pay up. Billups and fellow defendant Damon Jones, a former NBA player and assistant coach, were known as “Face Cards,” used to attract wealthy participants to these illicit games, while Mafia associates provided protection and enforced debts.
The NBA wasted no time responding to the bombshell news, placing both Billups and Rozier on immediate leave. “We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today. 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 league’s statement read.
The Portland Trail Blazers echoed this sentiment, stating, “We are aware of the allegations involving head coach Chauncey Billups, and the Trail Blazers are fully cooperating with the investigation. Billups has been placed on immediate leave, and Tiago Splitter will assume head coaching duties in the interim.” Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, issued a strong denial: “Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others. To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall-of-Fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.”
Meanwhile, the second probe centers on Rozier, who, along with Jones, stands accused of providing non-public NBA performance information to criminal partners, enabling them to place highly profitable bets. Prosecutors allege that Rozier not only tipped off bettors but also orchestrated his own early exits from games by feigning injuries, thereby manipulating prop bets. In a particularly damning incident from March 2023, Rozier allegedly informed co-conspirators he would leave a game early, which he did after just under ten minutes of play, citing a foot issue. This move, officials say, allowed his criminal partners to cash in on bets that he wouldn’t reach his expected statistical milestones. Rozier did not play for the remainder of that season, a fact that, in hindsight, has raised eyebrows among fans and bookmakers alike.
Rozier’s attorney, James Trusty, has pushed back, accusing prosecutors of reviving a “non-case” and emphasizing that Rozier had been previously cleared by the NBA in a 2023 investigation. “What I can tell you is there are a lot of people who are very close-lipped about what happened in 2023. But what I was told is that there was an investigation. They interviewed him twice. They took his phone, downloaded everything, and at the end of the day, end of the day they said there’s nothing to see here and cleared him,” Trusty stated. “But you know, we got a trophy hunt, so we’re gonna fight it.”
The indictments also implicate Damon Jones, a former NBA player and assistant coach, who is alleged to have used inside information regarding player injuries and absences—sometimes involving Lakers star LeBron James—to facilitate lucrative bets. In one vivid example, Jones reportedly texted a co-conspirator, “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out! [Player 3] is out tonight,” referring to a game where a prominent Lakers player sat out due to injury. Not every tip paid off, however; in another case, a $100,000 bet based on the supposed limited minutes of a Lakers player backfired, with the player participating and the Lakers winning, forcing Jones to repay part of his ill-gotten fee.
The scale and sophistication of the poker operation are equally staggering. Prosecutors allege that cheating teams used a variety of high-tech tools, from fraudulent shuffling machines to glasses that could read marked cards, ensuring that the house—and the mob—always had the edge. Members of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese families are said to have provided muscle and collected debts, with at least a dozen associates named in the indictment. Between April 2019 and October 2025, the cheating teams reportedly siphoned off more than $7 million from unsuspecting players.
Billups, a five-time All-Star and 2004 NBA Finals MVP, has enjoyed a storied career both on the court and on the sidelines. His alleged involvement in such a sweeping criminal enterprise has stunned fans and colleagues alike. He was released from custody after a hearing in Portland, agreeing to appear in a New York court next month, surrender his passport, and refrain from gambling as conditions of his release.
As the investigation continues, the NBA finds itself at a crossroads. The league has weathered scandals before, but the current crisis—spanning high-profile coaches, active players, and connections to organized crime—poses a unique threat to its image and operations. Federal authorities have emphasized that, despite the breadth of the probe, no college athletes have been implicated, and some other recent gambling scandals in sports remain unrelated.
For now, the fate of Billups, Rozier, and the others charged remains uncertain. The league’s swift action in suspending those involved signals a commitment to transparency and accountability, but the full impact of this scandal is still unfolding. As more details emerge, basketball fans and sports authorities alike are left to grapple with the fallout from a case that has shaken the very foundation of the NBA.
