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The stunning charges against an NBA head coach and current player in connection with alleged poker-rigging and illegal betting, respectively, have rocked the league as its latest season gets underway. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were among more than 30 individuals arrested Oct. 23 as part of two investigations, FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference. Rozier was indicted as part of a probe into insider sports betting, and Billups as part of a separate investigation into alleged poker rigging schemes. “The fraud is mind-boggling,” Patel said in reference to the allegations. Billups and Rozier have both been placed on immediate leave, the NBA said in a statement Oct. 23. Assistant Tiago Splitter will now serve as the Trail Blazers head coach, the team said. Billups, a former NBA star, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. Rozier is entering his 11th season in the NBA and is in the midst of a four-year, $96.3 million contract he signed in 2022, according to Spotrac. “To have a head coach of a team, a current player on a team and a former player, it’s pretty remarkable and stunning, and I think more is to come,” NBC News senior legal correspondent and Weekend TODAY co-anchor Laura Jarrett tells TODAY.com. Here’s where the case could go from here. NBA What are federal investigators alleging and what proof do they have? “Looking at the charging documents, it’s clear (federal prosecutors) have cooperators and people’s phones, texts and emails,” Jarrett said. Rozier was charged in an indictment accusing six defendants of participating in an insider sports betting scheme, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. told reporters at the news conference on Oct. 23. The indictment accuses Rozier of telling a childhood friend he was going to prematurely remove himself from a Hornets game in on March 23, 2023, according to court documents. Rozier’s friend, Deniro Laster, is accused of selling that tip to other defendants and co-conspirators, who placed bets on “non-public information” that prosecutors said raked in thousands of dollars. (Laster has not yet issued a public statement.) In a statement Oct. 23, Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, referenced the NBA’s probe into Rozier in January. The NBA said at the time it investigated “unusual betting activity” related to Rozier’s performance in that March 23 game and “did not find a violation of NBA rules.” It also said it is aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and is cooperating. “Terry was cleared by the NBA, and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight,” Trusty said. Billups is accused in a second indictment of being part of rigged poker games that used high-tech gadgets that allowed players to cheat with the help of Mafia figures. The defendants are accused of using the technology to steal money from unwitting victims in the games. Billups’ attorney denied the charges. “Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others,” attorney Chris Heywood said in a statement. Billups is not named in the separate sports gambling indictment that includes Rozier, but the indictment refers to a “Co-Conspirator 8,” described as an Oregon resident who played in the NBA from 1997-2014 and has been a coach since 2021. Those years match the exact years Billups played in the NBA, and he has been Portland’s head coach since 2021. Co-Conspirator 8 is accused of sharing inside information about a 2023 Trail Blazers game that other defendants in the case are alleged to have used to place bets against Portland. His lawyer denied that accusation. “Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to,” Heywood said. Will Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier face trial? The coach and player are two of the most prominent names among those charged by the FBI. The sports gambling indictment involves charges of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, federal prosecutors said, and each count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Jarrett said there is “a very high probability” that Rozier and Billups will have to face a trial. There also is the possibility that either one could take a plea deal, but that would mean pleading guilty to at least one of the charges. “It’s a potentially really embarrassing situation for the league,” Jarrett said. Another possibility is that Rozier or Billups could plead to a lesser charge in return for cooperating with investigators. That option would have to be presented to them by prosecutors. “The longer they go without coming clean about everything, the less likely prosecutors become willing to engage in that type of dealmaking,” Jarrett said. “Right in the moment, they have the best shot — if they were inclined to take it, but few people in their shoes do.” What are the next steps in the case? The charges were filed in the Eastern District of New York, so Rozier, Billups and the others who were charged will need to show up in court in New York, Jarrett said. They will be arraigned in New York and will enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, according to Jarrett; that will be followed by discovery and other legal filings between their attorneys and federal prosecutors. “This is not going to trial any time soon, most likely,” Jarrett said. There’s also the question of how the others who were charged, aside from Rozier and Billups, choose to proceed. “More than 30 people are now indicted, so do some of them flip? Do some of them talk?” Jarrett said. Could this cause government to regulate sports betting? The allegations of defendants using non-public information to win thousands of dollars in sports bets has put the massive growth of sports gambling around the country in the spotlight. The NBA, which has partnerships with betting companies, may now have another black eye if the charges prove to be true. It already issued a lifetime ban to former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, who pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a federal criminal case tied to a betting scandal. “For so long, NBA watchers have commented that this is a long-brewing issue bubbling beneath the service, but it hadn’t really exploded into view until now,” Jarrett said. The question is then whether Congress or state lawmakers will start regulating sports gambling companies as far as what type of bets they are allowed to offer. The offering of prop bets for individual players is a significant part of the alleged gambling scheme outlined in the indictment. For instance, a person with inside knowledge that a player was going to fake an injury to leave a game early could just bet the under on points, assists, rebounds and other categories and easily hit every bet if the player exits the game after only a few minutes. “People are trying to figure out where is that line,” Jarrett said. “This case amplifies the concerns that were already there and raises tough questions for the league.” “This is a case crying out for some clarity from Congress, and maybe one that ends up in future litigation in court,” she continued. “What are the rules of the road here, and do the current laws on the books accurately reflect the reality of how betting works?” This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
