A current NBA head coach and player — Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier — were among 31 individuals arrested in a sweeping federal investigation into illegal gambling and sports betting, US authorities announced Thursday.
Spanning 11 states, the yearslong probe focused on two schemes involving fixed underground poker games and fraudulent NBA wagers, both allegedly conducted with the participation of professional athletes and New York-based elements of Italian organized crime. Tens of millions of dollars were fraudulently obtained in both schemes, authorities said.
The sting will inevitably heighten scrutiny of the growing relationship between US sports leagues and the legal gambling industry, as scandals involving current and former players spill into the open: “Game integrity concerns are becoming real,” Axios wrote in July.