Over 30 Arrested in NBA Insider-Betting, Poker Ring

U.S. authorities arrested more than 30 people, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, in two related federal indictments alleging an NBA insider-betting ring and an organized‑crime‑linked illegal poker operation. Prosecutors say the insider scheme involved players, coaches and associates leaking nonpublic information — including faked or exaggerated injuries and who would exit games early — to straw bettors, producing hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings across at least seven games. Rozier is accused of informing co‑conspirators he would leave games early and passing that information to bettors, and former coach/assistant Damon Jones is accused of tipping bettors with private medical information about a Los Angeles Laker. Billups is accused of acting as a “face” for an underground poker ring tied to Mafia families that allegedly used high‑tech cheating devices to rig games and defraud victims. The FBI, a NYPD task force and the NBA cooperated on the multi‑year probe, the investigation is ongoing, both Rozier and Billups have been placed on leave, and lawyers for defendants have disputed aspects of the allegations.