Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested on Thursday as part of separate investigations linked to illegal gambling, Afrosport reports.
The pair was among 34 people detained following a years-long FBI probe spanning 11 states and involving tens of millions of dollars, said FBI director Kash Patel.
Rozier was arrested at a hotel in Orlando, Florida, a day after the Heat’s season-opening loss to the Magic. The 31-year-old did not play in that game.
Billups, meanwhile, was detained in Oregon over a separate case involving a rigged poker operation allegedly connected to organised crime. He is due to appear in court later on Thursday.
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones was also arrested. Prosecutors say he shared inside information about NBA games with others who used it for betting. The 49-year-old played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and nine other NBA teams across an 11-year career before returning as the Cavs assistant from 2016 to 2018.
According to U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr., six people face charges over the sports betting case, while 31 are accused in the poker scheme. Jones is reportedly tied to both investigations.
Suspicious betting activity was flagged in March 2023 on Rozier’s player stats while he was with the Charlotte Hornets. He played only ten minutes that night before exiting with a reported foot injury. Rozier is in the final year of a four-year, $96.3 million contract and was traded to Miami in January.
Billups, who became Portland’s coach in 2021, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024 after a decorated playing career with the Detroit Pistons. He won an NBA title with the Pistons in 2004 and was named Finals MVP.
The investigation is said to be linked to the wider betting scandal that led to former Raptors centre Jontay Porter’s lifetime NBA ban earlier this year.
