FBI agents apprehended Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier this Thursday in connection to two distinct cases concerning unlawful betting activities, the FBI declared.
Billups, Rozier, along with previous Cleveland Cavaliers athlete and coaching staff member Damon Jones, were part of a group exceeding 30 individuals taken into custody related to the FBI’s ongoing investigation. Eric Earnest, Marves Fairley, Shane Hennen, and Deniro Laster were also identified in the Department of Justice’s formal accusation.
The inquiry spanned multiple years, covering 11 different states, according to FBI director Kash Patel on Thursday.
Billups and Jones face charges for their alleged participation in an illicit poker ring connected to organized crime. Billups’ reported involvement is separate from his coaching responsibilities.
The individuals believed to be orchestrating the unlawful poker gatherings, including alleged affiliates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Genovese crime organizations, are accused of manipulating games to their advantage. It’s claimed that individuals employed hidden surveillance equipment, informants capable of deciphering marked playing cards, and specialized tables equipped with X-ray capabilities, among other methods, to defraud fellow participants of considerable sums.
Billups’ attendance at these events was intended to create an illusion of legitimacy and reassure “participants they were at a fair table,” as stated by New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch this Thursday. US Attorney Joe Nocella indicated that Billups was reportedly aware of the fraudulent activities.
Billups, aged 49, enjoyed a 17-year career as a player in the NBA. Drafted as the No. 3 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, Billups dedicated eight of those years to the Detroit Pistons, playing a pivotal role in their championship victory in 2004. Billups earned five All-Star selections, was named to the All-NBA team three times, and was twice recognized as a member of the NBA All-Defensive team. In 2024, Billups was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
After retiring from his playing days, Billups transitioned to coaching. He took on the head coaching position with the Trail Blazers prior to the 2021-22 NBA season and has since accumulated a 177-212 win-loss record across five seasons with the team.
One of those losses occurred Wednesday night, as Billups coached the Trail Blazers in a 118-114 defeat against the Minnesota Timberwolves in their opening game of the 2025-26 season.
Jones also has reported ties to the illegal poker scheme. As an 11-year NBA veteran, Jones suited up for 10 different teams throughout his career. Upon retiring in 2012, Jones served as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers.
Terry Rozier among those arrested in sports-betting probe
Rozier, at 31 years old, has been under scrutiny regarding his actions during a 2022-23 NBA game, back when he was still playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Prior to a matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans that season, an individual placed a bet of almost $14,000 on Rozier’s statistics falling below a certain threshold. Rozier exited the game prematurely after just nine minutes due to a foot injury, resulting in the success of the aforementioned bets, according to documentation obtained by ESPN.
The investigation into Rozier has reportedly been centered on whether he “influenced his performance in connection to an illegal sports betting operation,” according to a January report by the Wall Street Journal.
Despite the ongoing investigation, Rozier, an 11-year NBA veteran, was preparing to compete for the Heat during the 2025-26 NBA season. The guard was managing a hamstring injury leading up to the team’s season opener on Wednesday, but it was reported that he was available to participate in the game.
He did not appear in the team’s 125-121 loss to the Orlando Magic.
Last September, the Hornets made the decision to cancel a sports betting-themed promotional event that was initially scheduled to coincide with Rozier and the Heat’s visit to the city in March.
Rozier’s legal representative, Jim Trusty, released a statement to CNN, conveying that his client “is eager to prevail in this dispute.”
Trusty also voiced disapproval regarding the FBI’s handling of Thursday’s apprehension.
“It is disappointing that rather than permitting [Rozier] to voluntarily turn himself in, they chose to stage a spectacle. They were seeking the unwarranted attention of humiliating a professional athlete with a public display of arrest. This reveals a significant amount about the motivations driving this case. It seems they are prioritizing accounts from remarkably unreliable sources over relying on tangible evidence of wrongdoing,” Trusty’s statement elaborated.
In addition to his suspected participation in the illicit poker games, Jones has also been accused of disseminating private information regarding NBA contests to co-defendants, who then utilized this information to place sports wagers, according to ABC News.
Prosecutors revealed this Thursday that the examination into Rozier was connected to the same investigation that resulted in Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter receiving a lifetime ban from the NBA. The scrutiny of Porter arose after atypical betting patterns were observed on his underperforming statistics in two separate games. Porter left one of those contests due to an injury and another due to illness, leading to a favorable outcome for numerous of those “under” bets.
An internal NBA investigation concluded that Porter had disclosed “confidential details to individuals engaged in sports betting,” strategically reduced his playing time in certain games for betting purposes, and personally engaged in betting on NBA games, which subsequently resulted in his permanent expulsion from the league.
Former Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley, who had also been under the cloud of suspicion due to his supposed involvement in a federal gambling inquiry, was not among those apprehended. Although the probe into Beasley remains open, the NBA’s investigation into Beasley apparently “did not uncover any incriminating evidence,” according to journalist Pablo Torre. As reported by Torre, Beasley purportedly voluntarily surrendered his mobile device to NBA investigators.
The FBI and Patel conducted a press briefing on Thursday to officially confirm the arrests and share additional details regarding the accusations involving Billups, Jones, and Rozier.
The Trail Blazers, Heat, and NBA have yet to issue statements concerning Thursday’s apprehensions.
This report will receive further updates as they become available.
