{"id":262466,"date":"2025-10-31T08:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/262466\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T08:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:11:08","slug":"nba-gambling-scandal-101-the-lafayette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/262466\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA gambling scandal 101 \u2013 The Lafayette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a> <\/p>\n

The recent arrests of NBA players and coaches have led to heightened scrutiny about the NBA and its promotion of gambling websites. (Photo courtesy of CNBC)<\/p>\n

The FBI arrested<\/a> a whopping 34 people on illegal gambling charges last week, including current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Damon Jones and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The basketball world is reeling, putting out anti-gambling statements faster than Stephen Curry can pull up from 30 feet out. But how does this fiasco stack up against past NBA scandals? And what exactly got those basketball dudes in jail anyway? Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n

Two cases, one briefing<\/p>\n

The arrests came after not one but two investigations into nationwide illegal betting operations wrapped up. FBI Director Kash Patel called the extent of the fraud \u201cmind-boggling,\u201d as if his Hunter Pence eyes<\/a> weren\u2019t enough of a giveaway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rozier came under scrutiny after removing himself from a March contest in the first quarter after a supposed \u201cinjury,\u201d which allegedly netted his childhood friend $100,000 for selling the information to gamblers in advance. It\u2019s a stunning betrayal from a league that usually praises players for giving back to their community.<\/p>\n

Jones, a former point guard who once called himself \u201cthe best shooter in the world,\u201d thought providing bettors with confidential injury updates on LeBron James would be an easy score, but now it\u2019s looking like the airball of the century. James, meanwhile, got so mad he almost punched another blackboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The allegations against Billups, a Hall of Fame guard and the 2004 NBA Finals MVP, have only added to his legendary aura. How many people can say they helped the Mafia extort millions of dollars through rigged underground poker games? Billups, under instruction from his lawyer, probably can\u2019t for now, but give it a few years, and he\u2019ll have the coolest podcast on the internet.<\/p>\n

Not the NBA\u2019s first rodeo<\/p>\n

Think this scandal is unprecedented? Think again. Since NBA play began in 1948, the league has been a prime target for gambling and rigging.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 1953, referee Sol Levy was convicted of rigging games he officiated, and a year later, All-Star rookie Jack Molinas was banned for life after admitting to betting on his team, the Fort Wayne Pistons. At least Molinas bet on himself winning, I guess.<\/p>\n

In 2007, Levy\u2019s reincarnation, better known as Tim Donaghy, was also arrested and convicted after admitting to controlling the point spread on games he refereed over four seasons.<\/p>\n

And just last year, the obscure Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter was permanently banned after conspiring with gamblers to feign illnesses to win in betting the under on his statistics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not only was he the first active player banned for gambling since Molinas, his undoing also sparked the investigation that led to Rozier and Jones\u2019 arrests. It was so embarrassing, he even deleted his Instagram. Yikes.<\/p>\n

Friendly with FanDuel<\/p>\n

In the wake of the arrests, the NBA\u2019s chummy relationships with gambling platforms have come under intense scrutiny. If the league gets millions each year from its sponsorships with the likes of DraftKings, Caesars and BetMGM, why shouldn\u2019t the players get a little piece of the pie every now and then?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s actually a terrible idea, but the league\u2019s full-throated embrace of the forbidden fruit isn\u2019t helping one bit. No matter your views on betting, though, something is definitely rotten in the state of basketball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The recent arrests of NBA players and coaches have led to heightened scrutiny about the NBA and its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-262466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}