Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were arrested Thursday morning in connection with a federal gambling-related investigation. The two are among over 30 people arrested in the probe.
Rozier was arrested in Orlando, but it’s unclear where Billups was arrested. However, the Trail Blazers played in Portland on Thursday night.
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Cleveland Cavaliers former player and current assistant coach Damon Jones was also charged in a separate but related illegal gambling case, according to ABC News.
Billups and Rozier are to be arraigned in court on Thursday.
Gambling and NBA betting fraud
The Eastern District of New York and FBI Director Kash Patel shared details of the investigation Thursday during a press conference in New York. They say the investigation is two-pronged, with one focused on fraudulent poker games and another on fraudulent NBA bets.
The two prongs have been dubbed “Operation Royal Flush” and “Operation Nothing But Net.”
John Marzulli, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, said more than 30 people are in custody in connection with the investigation. Six have been arrested.
Patel said the “illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation” spanned 11 states, and arrests were made on charges that range from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery and illegal gambling.
At the press conference, officials said suspects hustled victims out of $7 million during rigged illegal poker games. The professional athletes involved were allegedly used as “face cards” to lure victims.
“The so-called face cards included the defendant Chauncey Billups — who at the time of the scheme was a former NBA player and is currently the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers — and also Damon Jones, a former NBA player,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr.
Officials said the poker games were allegedly backed by the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families.
Regarding fraudulent NBA bets, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that Rozier reportedly told individuals planning to bet that he would leave the game early due to an injury.
Who are Rozier and Billups?
Rozier joined the Heat in 2024, coming from the Charlotte Hornets. He’s an Ohio native and 10-year NBA veteran. He was picked 16th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2015 NBA draft.
Billups is a former NBA star and has coached since 2021. He was drafted in 1997 and played in the NBA for 17 years. Billups later worked as an NBA analyst for ESPN and as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers before taking the head coaching job with the Trail Blazers. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Previous NBA arrests
The arrests come just months after another NBA star, Gilbert Arenas, was arrested and indicted for allegedly helping operate illegal, high-stakes poker games out of a Los Angeles-area home.
Recent NBA seasons have seen numerous gambling investigations. In 2024, Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA for life after a league investigation found that he had thrown games and bet on his own sport.
