Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups Arrests Are Latest Sports Betting Scandal

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA guard and coach Damon Jones were among those arrested by the FBI as part of an investigation into illegal gambling and sports betting on Thursday.

The investigation was linked to members of the La Cosa Nostra crime families.

The arrests, which have shaken the NBA world, are another chapter in which notable players and coaches have been involved in illegal sports betting over the last century.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com

(Left) Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups talks to a referee during a timeout in the first half against the Sacramento Kings at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 10, 2025. (Right) Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) leaves the court after the game against the Detroit Pistons at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan on November 12. 2024. (Jaime Valdez/Imagn Images; Rick Osentoski/Imagn Images)

Here’s a look back at some of the biggest betting scandals in professional sports.

• In 1920, eight members of the Chicago White Sox were indicted by a Chicago grand jury for fixing the 1919 World Series. It became known as the “Black Sox scandal.” The jury returned a not guilty verdict on the players, but White Sox owner Charles Comiskey suspended the players, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. A year after the suspension, new baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis permanently banned them.
• In 1946, Hockey Hall of Famer Babe Pratt was suspended for gambling. He was reinstated weeks later, and the NHL Board of Governors issued a warning that any new gambling cases would result in a lifetime ban for a player.
• In 1948, two years after the NHL Board of Governors’ warning, Billy Taylor and Don Gallinger were banned for life from betting on games.
• In 1951, four members of the Kentucky Wildcats coached by Adolph Rupp were accused of accepting bribes from players for an NIT game against Loyola in the 1948-1949 season. There were 35 active and former players accused of fixing at least 86 games between 1947 and 1951. An NCAA investigation found several violations, leading to the cancellation of Kentucky’s 1952-53 season.
• In 1989, Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose received a lifetime ban for betting on games. It was discovered that Rose had made numerous bets on the Reds to win between 1985 and 1987 while he was playing and managing the team. He admitted to gambling in 2004 after years of claiming his innocence. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred posthumously removed Rose from the permanently ineligible list in May 2025, months after his death, allowing Rose to finally be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rose is baseball’s all-time leader in hits with 4,256.

NBA LEGEND CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, HEAT’S TERRY ROZIER ARRESTED AS PART OF FBI GAMBLING INVESTIGATION

Pete Rose greets fans during the unveiling of a bronze statue dedicated to him at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 17, 2017. (IMAGE)

• In 1996, 13 Boston College football players were suspended for gambling. Two of the players bet against their own team during the 45-17 loss to Syracuse. Head coach Dan Henning informed school officials upon hearing allegations of players placing bets at sportsbooks and resigned. No evidence of tip shaving was found.
• In 2007, then-assistant coach Rick Tocchet was placed on two years’ probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy and promoting gambling as an assistant coach with the then-Phoenix Coyotes. The NHL reinstated him the following season. Additionally, initially involved in a game plan titled “Operation Slapshot” involving a New Jersey-based network were several players; Wayne Gretzky’s wife, Janet Jones; and Gretzky’s former agent and then Coyotes general manager Michael Barnett. Tocchet is currently the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.
• In 2008, NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to wire fraud and transmitting betting information for receiving thousands of dollars from a player in exchange for inside information about games, including games he worked on. He was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 months behind bars.
• In 2023, golfer Phil Mickelson is alleged to have bet more than $1 billion over the past three decades on a book written by player Billy Walters. In the book, Walters wrote that Mickelson wanted to bet $400,000 on the 2012 Ryder Cup, when he was playing for the United States. The six-time major winner denied betting on the Ryder Cup and wrote in a social media post that he had stopped betting. Mickelson said he crossed the line from moderation to addiction.
• In 2023, Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto was suspended 41 games for sports betting. The NHL said there was no evidence that Pinto bet on hockey, and Pinto did not reveal any details upon his return to the Senators.

NBA PLAYER TERRY ROZIER’S LAWYER TURNS TO FBI AFTER ARREST

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) with translator Ippei Mizuhara against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training baseball game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

• In March 2024, the Los Angeles Dodgers fired Ippei Mizuhara, the performer and close friend of newly acquired two-way star Shohei Ohtani, following reports of his ties to an illegal betting house. Three months later, Mizuhara pleaded guilty in federal court to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani’s bank account. He spent the money to cover his mounting bets and debts to an illegal betting house, along with $325,000 in baseball cards and his own medical bills. Mizuhara took advantage of the language barrier to prevent Ohtani’s financial advisors from understanding their client, and at times, Mizuhara even posed as the player at the bank to prolong the fraud.
• In April 2024, the NBA banned Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter after a league investigation found he revealed confidential information to sports bettors and bet on games. Porter even bet that the Raptors would lose. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Porter’s actions “brazen.” The investigation began after unusual playing patterns surrounding Porter’s performance on March 20 against the Sacramento Kings. The league determined that Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status before that game and said another individual, known to be an NBA bettor, placed an $80,000 bet that Porter would not reach the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sports book. That bet would have won $1.1 million.
• In June 2024, San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned for life by MLB for betting on baseball. MLB said Marcano placed 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 with a legal sportsbook in 2022 and 2023. The 24-year-old Venezuelan, with 149 games of Major League experience, became the first active player in a century banned for life for betting.
• Also in 2024, then-Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly was also suspended for one year for betting on baseball while in the minor leagues, and three minor league players were also suspended for one year for betting on major league games: pitchers Jay Groome of San Diego and Andrew Saalfrank of Arizona, and infielder José Rodríguez of Philadelphia. Each of those four players bet less than $1,000. Saalfrank and Rodríguez previously played in the majors.

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase during a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco on June 17, 2025. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo, File)

• In February 2025, MLB fired umpire Pat Hoberg for sharing his legal sports betting accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games and for intentionally deleting electronic messages relevant to the league’s investigation. While MLB said the investigation uncovered no evidence that Hoberg personally bet on baseball or rigged games, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill recommended on May 24, 2024, that Hoberg be fired. Manfred confirmed Hill’s decision. Among the umpires best qualified to judge the strike zone, Hoberg could seek reinstatement no earlier than spring training in 2026. MLB said the friend placed 141 baseball bets between April 2, 2021 and Nov. 1, 2023, totaling nearly $214,000 with an overall profit of nearly $35,000. Eight of the bets involved games Hoberg was working on.
• In July 2025, Major League Baseball placed Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz on non-disciplinary paid leave due to a gambling investigation. Nearly a month later, he was joined by two-time American League Reliever of the Year Emmanuel Clase. MLB extended Class and Ortiz’s paid leave “until further notice as MLB continues its investigation.” There is no update on gambling research at the time of writing.
• In September 2025, the NCAA announced it was investigating possible sports betting rule violations involving 13 former men’s basketball players who competed for Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley State. The NCAA’s integrity monitoring program and network of sources detected text messages and direct messages on social media platforms and revealed unusual betting activity surrounding regular season games. Violations include student-athletes betting for and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for sports betting purposes, manipulating scores or results, and/or refusing to participate in research.