Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday as part of a pair of investigations related to illegal gambling, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Rozier was arrested Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Florida. The Heat lost their season opener to the Magic on Wednesday, when Rozier did not play due to a coach’s decision.
Billups’ arrest in Oregon was made as part of a separate but related illegal gambling case linked to an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia, according to an ABC News report. Billups is expected to make an initial court appearance later Thursday.
Also, former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones was arrested Thursday on charges that he provided inside information about NBA games to co-defendants who used it to place sports bets, according to ABC News. Jones, 49, played for 10 NBA teams over an 11-year career from 1998 to 2009 and was a Cavaliers assistant from 2016 to 2018.
The arrests are part of a broader federal crackdown on sports betting manipulation, following last year’s Jontay Porter scandal, where the former Raptors center was banned for fixing prop bets and later pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently confirmed that the league is tightening controls on player prop bets to prevent further manipulation, particularly involving role players and two-way contracts.