Although he was not indicted in the illegal sports betting case that resulted in the arrest of Heat guard Terry Rozier, it’s clear that a person matching the description of Chauncey Billups is accused of providing insider information about the Trail Blazers planning to go into tank mode ahead of a game on March 24, 2023, notes Chris Mannix of SI.com.
Billups was arrested on Thursday in a separate but related case involving an illegal poker operation tied to the mafia. He was arraigned on one count of wire-fraud conspiracy and one count of money-laundering conspiracy in federal court in Portland and was released under certain conditions, including having his travel restricted to Oregon, Colorado (his home state), and New York (where his trial will take place) writes Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian.
The 49-year-old coach, who has been placed on leave by the NBA, will also be required to pay a “substantial” bond, surrender his passport, is prohibited from contacting his co-defendants and is barred from engaging in any form of gambling-related activities, per Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link).
Billups’ next court date is November 24 in Brooklyn, New York.
Chris Heywood, the attorney who represented Billups at Thursday’s arraignment, released a statement saying his client disputes the charges. It’s unclear if Billups will have a different lawyer for the actual case, a league source tells Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).
“Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others,” Heywood said in the statement. “To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his hall-of-fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.
“Furthermore, 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. Chauncey Billups has never backed down. He does not plan to do so now. He will fight these allegations with the same tenacity that marked his 28-year career. We look forward to our day in court.”
Rozier, who was also placed on leave by the league, faced his own arraignment in Florida today. The 31-year-old had to put up his $6MM mansion as collateral for bond, according to Mike Valente of CBS Central Florida (Twitter link), and was conditionally released under similar stipulations as Billups.
Here are a few more items of interest related to the cases:
- While the arrests of Billups and Rozier have understandably generated the most attention, Damon Jones‘ involvement may be the most problematic for the league, a high-ranking team executive tells Mannix. The former NBA guard and coach was allegedly involved in both cases, including for tipping off a bettor about the injury status of a Lakers player that Dave McMenamin of ESPN confirms was LeBron James. To be clear, James has not been accused of any wrongdoing and was unaware of his colleague’s gambling activities, a source tells McMenamin.
- Several ESPN insiders and three SI.com authors explain more details of the investigations and the alleged involvements of Rozier, Billups and Jones.
- The Magic were mentioned in the illegal betting probe. In a statement to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link), the team said it has “no indication that any current players were involved and we have not been contacted by the authorities.”
- According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link), the Heat were unaware of Rozier’s involvement in the illegal sports betting case — which allegedly took place when he was a member of the Hornets — when they traded for him several months later. Miami was also not aware of any NBA investigation into the matter, Jackson adds.
link to google.com
Seems the Feds want to make a statement to the NBA.
NBA needs to clean its own house. Feds definitely going to find something here. Even if they avoid time. They could be banned and lose their retirement money. Looks more serious than I thought.
How exactly are the feds making a statement to the NBA? (I wasn’t able to click on the link you provided)
Look up the original charges on Rozier.
What I take is. They are going deeper in the investigation. And looking for more people who were involved. To make their case. Where the NBA dud investigate. And found no credible sources. Feds are spanning further and finding more proof. They are going all out to make a case.
Terry Rozier was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in October 2025 as part of a federal gambling investigation. The charges stem from an alleged incident in March 2023, when, while playing for the Charlotte Hornets, he supposedly faked an injury to leave a game early so that members of a gambling scheme could bet on his “under” statistics.
Incident Details: The government alleges that Rozier informed someone close to him that he planned to leave the game with a supposed injury. This information was then used to place large bets on his player props (like points and assists) before the game, and those bets were profitable after he left the game early, according to the indictment.
Official Charges: Rozier was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
NBA Action: The NBA immediately placed Rozier on leave following his arrest.
Other Involved Parties: The charges were filed in connection with a broader federal investigation into illegal sports gambling and poker rigging schemes, which also led to the arrest of other individuals, including former NBA player and coach Chauncey Billups.
I was wondering how long before they’d post about it
Terry Rozier’s original charges related to his time with the Charlotte Hornets were wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. These charges stem from a federal investigation into a sports betting scheme where he allegedly shared insider information about his availability for games. The investigation identified unusual betting activity connected to a March 2023 game against the New Orleans Pelicans, where he left early due to injury.
Wire fraud conspiracy: This charge relates to the alleged scheme of using nonpublic information to set up fraudulent bets.
Money laundering conspiracy: This charge is associated with the alleged process of handling the proceeds from the illegal bets.
Origin of charges: The charges were the result of a federal investigation that was initiated after the NBA flagged unusual betting patterns in a game in which Rozier played.
Status: Rozier was arrested in October 2025 and has been placed on immediate leave by the NBA.
All this time and man power into hunting down Rozier and Billups potentially others……but took 5 minutes to proclaim Ohtani is innocent and wasn’t involved in anything.
Make. It. Make. Sense