NBA Betting Scandal Shows How Legalized Gambling Actually Helps Root Out Corruption

The Justice Department is bringing charges against more than 30 people in two different, but possibly related, alleged criminal schemes involving the Mafia, sports betting on the NBA, and rigged poker games. The most notable arrests include Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.

Critics of legalized sports betting have been quick to dunk on the NBA for getting involved with sports betting. But legalized sportsbooks, and their cooperation with the NBA and law enforcement, are likely a big reason the scheme was uncovered at all.

The sports betting scheme allegedly involved Rozier and a complex web of former players getting insider information about certain players, and using straw bettors to place bets at casinos and online sportsbooks on those players hitting the unders on their player prop bets. FBI Director Kash Patel called it “the insider trading saga for the NBA” at a Thursday morning press conference. Sometimes these bets involved a person informing the network if a player was going to sit out or enter a game and leave early after faking or exaggerating an injury. For example, in March 2023 Rozier allegedly took himself out of a game after 10 minutes played so that his co-conspirators could cash in.

The alleged poker game scheme seems to have involved Billups to help to give the poker games the appearance of legitimacy. The poker players would sometimes lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a night in a game that had been rigged by high-tech cheating methods involving x-ray tables, special glasses, and manipulated card-shuffling machines.

Authorities said the NBA cooperated in the investigation and that these schemes did not involve college basketball. They added that the investigation is ongoing and that there’s “always that possibility” that more NBA players are arrested. Rozier and Billups are on immediate leave from their teams.

Not charged in Thursday’s indictments were Malik Beasley or Jontay Porter. Beasley was previously investigated, but not charged, in a federal gambling probe that may be connected to Thursday’s announcement—he still could be charged as investigations continue. Porter was charged in 2024 with a felony for alleged conduct similar to what is alleged in the Rozier-related charges. He was subsequently given a lifetime ban from the NBA.

It’s important to remember, of course, that Billups, Rozier, and the others charged in the cases are innocent until proven guilty and deserve their day in court. Rozier’s lawyer has already given a statement to Pablo Torres Finds Out, saying: “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.” In general, the feds often overcharge in hopes of intimidating defendants into plea deals.

Rep. Paul Tonko (D–N.Y.) wrote on X that the alleged crimes were “an inevitable consequence of the unchecked explosion of the sports betting industry.” As The New York Times noted, Tonko supports federal legislation that would limit sports betting ads and implement affordability checks for bettors—neither of which would have done anything to stop the alleged conspiracies. (Though don’t be surprised if the NBA-related scheme is used as a reason to limit player prop bets, as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver asked for earlier this week.)

The NBA is very concerned about the multiple arrests made as a result of the FBI’s sports gambling code.

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— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) October 23, 2025

Sports media this AM:

“BREAKING NEWS: Chauncey Billups & Terry Rozier were arrested this morning in a gambling sting, but before we get to that this show is brought to you by [Fanduel, Draftkings, Hard Rock Bet, ESPN Bet]”

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) October 23, 2025

But, if anything, all this taking place with legalized sportsbooks has helped uncover the alleged schemes. “The sportsbooks themselves are victims in this case,” Joseph Nocella, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at Thursday’s press conference. “They themselves, as far as our investigation has concluded, did not perpetrate anything unlawful.” (He did not name which sportsbooks were involved.)

For example, in the March 2023 game, Rozier left the game early with an injury after playing for only 10 minutes. That same game had a suspicious amount of betting activity on the unders for Rozier’s player prop bets, with Rozier’s co-defendants allegedly betting a combined $200,000.

Had that betting activity been placed with illegal bookies or offshore sportsbooks, it probably would have gone unnoticed. But when sports betting is legal, sportsbooks won’t be afraid to flag suspicious activity like this to sports leagues and law enforcement. Likewise, if people had a place to play high-stakes poker in Manhattan, they wouldn’t need to go through the Mafia to do it.

It does feel like the NBA, in conjunction with sportsbooks, should be able to uncover these incidents sooner. But as sports lawyer Michael McCann pointed out at Sportico, law enforcement has a lot more power than the NBA: “As a private entity, the NBA cannot issue subpoenas to demand evidence, including texts and other records, or compel sworn testimony. While the NBA has contractual authority over players, coaches and referees, it cannot require witnesses—including bookies and players’ associates—to cooperate in an investigation. Perhaps most important, the NBA can’t scare witnesses into cooperating.”

If the allegations brought by the Justice Department on Thursday are true, then it’s sad that the integrity of the NBA was compromised. But the answer is not to push sports betting back into the shadows of bookies and offshore bets; it’s to keep sports betting in the light so that perpetrators can be brought to justice. (Tim Donaghy, remember, got away with betting on games that he officiated for years, more than a decade before widespread legalized sports betting.) The allegations should not affect the legality of bets placed by an average Joe who’s just sitting on his couch, blowing $5 on a parlay with his friends.

As Patel said, “If you’re participating in the legal gambling industry, you got nothing to worry about.”