FBI arrests 34 in NBA-Mafia betting scandal, but analysts argue legalized betting actually helps protect the sport’s integrity.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 24-48 hours, you know the FBI rolled on the NBA and the Italian Mafia for rigging player props and organizing illegal poker games. Among the 34 arrested are former Miami Heat SG Terry Rozier, Basketball Hall of Famer and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones.
Since Thursday’s press conference announcing the arrests and ongoing investigation, I’ve been hitting up my contemporaries in the sports betting space to get their thoughts and commentary. I asked all of them the same questions, and they all gave me essentially the same answers.
The questions: “Will this NBA gambling scandal stop you or give you pause from betting on the Association?” and “How much responsibility should the legal sportsbooks take?” The answers: “No” and “None. In fact, legalized sports betting helped flag the betting irregularities in the first place”.
Former NBA player and current Portland Trail Blazers head coach, Chauncey Billups, was arrested for his alleged involvement in illegal poker games as part of the FBI’s ongoing investigation into player prop rigging in the NBA. (Photo credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images)
Betsperts’ Andy Molitor replied: “I don’t think anything could make me want to bet the NBA any less, but that’s just me. I hate the damn league to start with. If I did bet it, though, I don’t think it would affect me much. It feels like it has just as much of a chance as affecting a bet of mine positively as negatively if you really think about it.”
Read: CHAUNCEY BILLUPS RELEASES STATEMENT DECLARING INNOCENCE AMID FBI PROBE
ESPN sports betting analyst Pamela Maldonado had a thoughtful response to my second question: “Most of us in the professional betting space see this less as a reflection of gambling and more as a reminder of why integrity and structure matter. Regulation and accountability don’t destroy betting; they actually preserve it. The same way rules protect athletes, fans, and fair play”.
VSIN host and fellow sports betting analyst, Dustin Swedelson, added, “There is no putting the toothpaste back in the tube. Legal sportsbooks working with regulators is how issues like this are uncovered. If it wasn’t for the gambling regulation measures, led by sportsbooks, this could have gone on for a long time”.
These are the smart statements of what I said after news broke that former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter was arrested, and the FBI was investigating Rozier for his involvement in fixing player props, which led to Rozier’s arrest Thursday. My take has always been: Legalized sports betting isn’t leading to more corruption; the integrity firms launched post-legalization are exposing it.
Related: OLD VIDEO SURFACES OF POKER PRO CALLING OUT CHAUNCEY BILLUPS RIGGED GAMES
As a lifelong NBA fan, this story is just depressing. Deep down, I knew this could be happening. Hell, I’ve been joking for years that Rozier was rigging games because every time I bet him or his team, Rozier found a way to screw me. However, watching the FBI’s press conference Thursday was a gut-punch. It’s the adult version of finding out Santa Claus isn’t real.
Billups’ alleged involvement bums me out the most. Granted, he was arrested for participating in illegal poker games rather than rigging NBA games. Billups was used as a “face card” by the Mafia to lure his rich associates to the table. But I used to go to underground poker clubs in a past life. As far as I knew, they were legit. I mean, I won money, and I didn’t cheat.
Yet, the idea that Billups could’ve been in on the scheme to rip off gamblers is disgusting. There’s “illegal” and then there is “unethical,” which, in my world, is far worse. Hopefully, Billups and his legal team can prove his innocence. As far as Rozier, Jones, or any other NBA player involved in rigging is concerned, if the allegations are true, I hope the judge throws the book at them.
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