The NBA Betting Scandal: What We Know So Far

Zak Drapeau
18 hours ago
4 min read

by Zak Drapeau 10/24/2025 Sportz Nation

Yesterday on October 23rd, a bombshell NBA-story dropped involving arrests of former and current NBA players surrounding betting scandals.

As of now, we know that three people associated with the NBA have been arrested and indicted by a Grand Jury, including current Miami Heat Point Guard Terry Rozier, Current Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups and former Cavaliers player and Lakers Assistant Coach Damon Jones.

According to the indictment which can be found in it's entirety on the PACER Website, there are 34 defendants named in total including the 3 men associated directly with the NBA, associates of theirs including those who physically made bets based on information given and even New York mafia members.

FBI Director Kash Patel has said, "This is the insider trading saga for the NBA."

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. claimed, "One of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States."

So what do we know exactly about each of the 3 NBA players named and how bad is this really?

Terry Rozier

Terry Rozier is being accused of being part of a "game-rigging scheme" with a childhood friend of his named Deniro Laster where he "prematurely took himself out of a game" so his friend could make money off prop bets, (Kara Scannell - CNN).

On March 23, 2023 Rozier's Charlotte Hornets were scheduled to play the New Orleans Pelicans. At some point before the game, Rozier told Laster that he planned to take himself out of the game early.

Sure enough, Rozier would exit the game with an injury 9 minutes into the First Quarter with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

Laster then shared this information with "2 or more parties", "who placed more than $250,000 on prop bets that paid off". Laster would "collect tens of thousands of dollars for his part in the scheme" and then "have his travel paid for to Philadelphia to collect the proceeds", then drove to meet Rozier at his Charlotte home to count the money." (Associated Press).

Additional information has given the Federal Government reason to believe that these betting patterns may have occurred in "as many as seven games from March 2023 to March 2024 involving the Hornets, Magic, Trail Blazers, Lakers and Raptors indicated by the indictment.

A burgeoning question about Rozier in particular is the NBA's handling of this situation. The first rumors of Rozier's possible role in betting came out shortly after the 3.23.23 NBA game when a monitoring firm flagged suspicious activity for this game. "Coincidentally" or most would assume not-coincidentally, Rozier would not dress for the Hornets' next game on March 24th and would be listed as inactive for the team's final 7 games of the season. The NBA was aware of the rumors and conducted it's own internal investigation. The NBA allowed Rozier to continue playing as soon as the next season where more of these alleged "betting patterns" continued.

Rozier has been charged with Wire Fraud Conspiracy and Money Laundering Conspiracy

Damon Jones

Jones was an NBA player from 2000-to-2009 for several teams. After his playing career was over, Jones was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014-to-2018 and an unofficial coach for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-23 season.

The indictment accuses Jones of "using his proximity to the Lakers to share undisclosed injury news with sports bettors with the intention of placing wagers on games or certain players" (CBS Sports).

On one specific encounter described in the indictment, Jones sent a text message to an unidentified co-conspirator telling them "an unnamed Prominent NBA Player" was injured and would not appear in that night's game. Those texts allegedly say "Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight" (LakersDaily.com). During that game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Lebron James did not play and the team would lose.

The indictment also described another instance in the 2023-24 season where Jones "sold" non-public information on a "different Lakers player".

Jones is also being connected to a "scheme to stage rigged, illegal poker games in New York City" (CBS Sports).

In total, Jones has been charged with two counts of Wire Fraud Conspiracy and two counts of Money Laundering Conspiracy

Chauncey Billups

In similar circumstances as Damon Jones, the Trail Blazers Head Coach has been charged in a separate indictment of taking part in a "wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games" that were "backed by Mafia families" (ESPN). The mafia families involved.

"Though Billups was not named in the sports betting indictment, the description of a co-conspirator who allegedly told a bettor that a number of Trail Blazers players would miss a March 2023 game had a playing and coaching career that matches Billups."

Billups has been indicted on charges of Wire Fraud Conspiracy and Money Laundering Conspiracy.

The Federal Grand Jury indictment has descriptions of "several unnamed NBA players availability for certain games and their involvement in betting activity" and claims those players are currently under investigation.