Chauncey Billups, coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and baseman Terry Rozier, of the Miami Heat, were arrested as part of a federal investigation into illegal betting, which affects the North American Basketball League (NBA).
Billups, 49, and Rozier, 31, are part of a group of more than 30 people arrested following the investigation, which, in addition to sports betting on the Internet, also includes a broad scheme of illegal poker games, with links to the mafia.
The Heat player is suspected of involvement in sports betting, using privileged information about NBA athletes and teams, while the Blazers coach faces a separate case, for participating in the illegal poker game scheme.
United States Attorney General Joseph Nocella Jr. explained that the investigation involving Rozier comprises six people, calling the case “one of the most daring corruption schemes since online sports betting was legalized in the United States”.
The NBA, the most important basketball championship in the world, which investigated Rozier in 2023, without consequences for the Heat’s base, did not make any comment on the arrests of the player and coach.