NBA coach, player on leave following arrests in gambling-related investigation

Watch NBA coach, player on leave following arrests in gambling-related investigation - Straight Arrow News on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00This morning, the fallout continues from a shocking NBA scandal.

00:07A coach, a player, and the mob.

00:09Portland Trailblazers head coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups

00:12and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier have been released from jail

00:16after being indicted in two separate federal gambling cases linked to organized crime.

00:22They're among 34 people charged, including suspected members of New York's Bonanno,

00:27Genovese, Gambino, and Lucchese crime families.

00:30Billups is accused of using his celebrity status to draw high rollers into rigged poker games,

00:36games that prosecutors say used fixed shuffling machines, even x-ray tech, to read cards.

00:42The operation stretched from the Hamptons to Las Vegas and pulled in at least $7 million.

00:47When players could not pay up, the mob allegedly turned violent.

00:51Rozier and former player Damon Jones are charged in a related case

00:55accused of illegal betting on NBA games.

00:59Rozier's lawyer says he's been cleared before and plans to fight back.

01:03What I can tell you is there's a lot of people that are very close-lipped about what happened in 2023,

01:07but what I was told is there was an investigation.

01:10They interviewed him twice.

01:11They took his phone, downloaded everything,

01:13and at the end of the day, they said there's nothing to see here and cleared him.

01:17But, you know, we got a trophy hunt, so we're going to fight it.

01:19FBI Director Cash Patel says the charges include wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, and illegal gambling,

01:27calling it one of the largest sports betting rings in recent memory.