The betting scandal is not going away.
National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver and his 30 owners may be looking to make a lot of money by creating a European basketball league but there is a far more important problem that needs to be tackled. Are NBA games bona fide competitions or are there questions about outcomes? The NBA learned of an additional problem when federal prosecutors unsealed indictments connected to suspicious betting activity on NBA player prop markets in the fall of 2025. Court filings and recent sentencing hearings suggest that additional games may have been compromised. That is not exactly what Silver wants to hear.
In October, 2025, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were arrested along with retired player Damon Jones in a nationwide investigation that included the arrests of more than 30 people across 11 states on charges including wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery and illegal gambling. The NBA placed Billups and Rozier on paid leave. Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using insider NBA information. As part of the scheme, gamblers used nonpublic information to bet on at least seven NBA games between March 2023 and March 2024 involving the Charlotte Hornets, the Orlando Magic, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Toronto Raptors. Billups was charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families, authorities said. Jones, who worked as an unofficial assistant coach for the Lakers during the 2022-23 season, allegedly sold inside information to bettors. Jontay Porter was permanently banned from the NBA in April 2024 for violating league gambling rules. Silver has a problem.
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