Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday as part of a pair of investigations involving illegal gambling, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.
Rozier was arrested Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Florida. The Heat lost their first game of the season. Magic on Wednesday when Rozier did not play by coach's decision.
Billups' arrest in Oregon was made in a separate but related illegal gambling case involving an illegal poker operation linked to the Mafia, according to the agency. ABC News report. Billups is expected to appear in court later Thursday.
In addition, the former Cleveland Cavaliers Player and assistant coach Damon Jones was arrested Thursday on charges that he provided inside information about NBA games to co-defendants who used it to place sports bets, ABC News reported. Jones, 49, played for 10 NBA teams during an 11-year career from 1998 to 2009 and was an assistant for the Cavaliers from 2016 to 2018.
The Eastern District of New York and FBI Director Kash Patel will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. ET Thursday to announce arrests in connection with the investigation.
Bookmakers in many states noted suspicious interest in betting on Rozier's statistics yesterday Charlotte Hornets–New Orleans Pelicans The game will take place on March 23, 2023. The unexpected surge in bets – including 30 bets in 46 minutes from a punter totaling $13,759 – came on Rozier's minus points, rebounds and assists, causing sportsbooks to stop betting on the veteran guard. Rozier, then playing for the Hornets, played just 10 minutes before leaving the game, citing a leg injury.
Rozier's lawyer, Jim Trusty, previously told ESPN that his client met with NBA and FBI officials several times in 2023. The NBA said it looked into the matter at the time and did not find any violations of any league rules.
Other details of Billups' case were not immediately available. Billups has been the coach of the Trail Blazers since 2021 and was sidelined for the loss to the Trail Blazers earlier in the season. Minnesota Timberwolves. He is an NBA champion and Finals MVP as a player with Detroit Pistonsand he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Rozier, 31, is in the final season of a four-year, $96.3 million contract he signed with the Heat in August 2021. The March 23, 2023 game was Rozier's final game of the 2022-23 season with the Hornets, who traded him to the Heat in January 2024.
His case stems from a betting scandal involving his ex. Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter, who was suspended from the NBA in the spring of 2024 for his participation in a gambling scheme based on bets on players. Porter pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and admitted in court to manipulating his performance in two games during the 2023-24 season. He awaits sentencing in December.
Four men, including Porter, pleaded guilty in the case. Two other men were named as conspirators and were in plea negotiations, according to court records.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, speaking on “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday, said the league is working with its sportsbook partners to combat attempts at manipulation.
“We've asked some of our partners to waive some bets, especially when they're betting on two-way players, guys who don't have the same stake in a competition where it's too easy to manipulate something that otherwise seems small and inconsequential to the overall outcome,” Silver said. “We're trying to put in place – learning as we go and working with betting companies – some additional controls to prevent some of this manipulation.”
