A mafia-linked betting ring used connections to LeBron James, NBA head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and an unnamed Orlando Magic player to cheat the NBA’s betting partners out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to the indictments.
The filings, reviewed by Legal Sports Report, outline overlapping NBA betting schemes that stretched from locker rooms to high-stakes poker rooms. Prosecutors described the case as “just the tip of the iceberg” in a four-year FBI investigation that has already displaced a team of its coach and intensified scrutiny over injury reporting and teams intentionally “tanking” games.
Federal prosecutors called the operation “insider trading in professional basketball,” a network that monetized private details on player injuries and lineup changes to “cheat legitimate sportsbooks” while laundering profits through Cash App and Zelle. The indictments cite wagers placed both with unlicensed bookmakers and with the league’s two official betting partners, DraftKings and FanDuel.
FBI: Billups gave tanking tip
Prosecutors identify “Co-Conspirator 8,” a description matching Portland’s Billups, alleging he told associate Eric Earnest ahead of a March 24, 2023 matchup with Chicago that the Trail Blazers planned to “tank” to improve their draft odds.
That game marked a clear turning point in Portland’s season. It was the first time the team shut down star player Damian Lillard for the year, along with three other starters Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons and Josh Hart. At the time, Portland sat 32–41, 13th in the Western Conference, out of title contention but holding its own first-round draft pick, which would later become the No. 3 overall selection.
According to prosecutors, Earnest passed Billups’s tip to Marves Fairley, a Mississippi betting tout with prior federal convictions, who placed more than $100,000 in wagers against Portland before any of the injuries were announced. The line swung from Bulls –2.5 to –7.5. The Blazers, missing six players in total, lost 124–96.
The same filing links Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones to a Mafia-backed poker scheme that used marked decks and optical lenses to rig high-stakes games. Investigators called the ex-players “Face Cards” — recognizable figures used to draw victims into the scam.
Billups’ lawyer responds
Billups’ attorney Chris Heywood said the Hall of Famer “has never and would never” bet on basketball or provide inside information.
“Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others. 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,” Heywood said in a statement.
“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.”
LeBron’s longtime confidant
Jones, a former Cavaliers guard and assistant coach as well as a close friend of LeBron James, is accused of selling insider injury information to gamblers, including LeBron’s status before a Feb. 9, 2023 Lakers–Bucks game.
“Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out! [Player 3] is out tonight. Bet enough so Djones can eat now!!!” Jones allegedly texted a co-conspirator.
“Player 3,” identified to the grand jury and confirmed by ESPN as LeBron James, was a late scratch that night, just two days after he broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record. James was not accused of wrongdoing, and sources told ESPN he was unaware of Jones’s gambling activity while they spent time together that season.
At the time, Jones was not a Lakers employee, but had been invited by then-head coach Darvin Ham to informally assist the team. He frequently traveled with the club and had locker-room access, according to the Associated Press.
The following season, Jones allegedly sold another piece of non-public injury information ahead of a Jan. 15, 2024 Lakers–Thunder game, receiving $2,500 via Cash App from Fairley. The wager lost prompting Fairley to demand his money back. Jones reaffirmed that the information had been “credible,” according to the indictment.
Jones, who has not commented publicly, played alongside James on the Cavaliers’ 2007 Finals team and later coached him as an assistant during Cleveland’s 2016 championship run. He played for 10 different teams over a 15-year career but is perhaps best remembered as the coach J.R. Smith famously threw soup at.
Unnamed Magic player also implicated
The indictments also cite a previously unreported game which involves an unnamed Orlando Magic starter who allegedly shared non-public lineup information with a co-conspirator.
According to prosecutors, the player revealed that Orlando would sit most of its regular starters ahead of a April 6, 2023 matchup vs. the Cavaliers, before that info was publicly known. At the time, the Magic were 9-point favorites. Using that tip, Fairley placed an $11,000 wager with an unlicensed bookmaker on Cleveland to cover. The Cavaliers won by 24 points.
The revelation suggests at least one additional active NBA player may have participated in the network, though the Department of Justice has not yet identified or charged the individual.
“The integrity of the game is paramount to NBA players, but so is the presumption of innocence, and both are hindered when player popularity is misused to gain attention,” an NBPA spokesperson said. “We will ensure our members are protected and afforded their due process rights through this process.”
Terry Rozier’s childhood friend
Prosecutors allege then-Hornets guard Terry Rozier conspired with childhood friend Deniro Laster to fake an injury and leave a March 23, 2023 game against the New Orleans Pelicans early, allowing insiders to profit from bets on his statistical unders.
Rozier and Laster have known each other since high school in Cleveland. According to the indictment, Rozier told Laster before tip-off that he planned to exit the game in the first quarter with a “supposed” foot injury. Laster then sold that information to multiple co-conspirators, including Fairley, who relayed it to others in the betting ring.
The group wagered more than $200,000 on Rozier’s unders at regulated sportsbooks before the game began, according to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Rozier played roughly 10 minutes before leaving with the reported injury.
Prosecutors allege Rozier later paid for Laster to travel to Philadelphia to collect his share of the winnings from Fairley. Laster then drove to Rozier’s home in Charlotte, where the two “counted the proceeds together,” according to the filing.
Barkley: NBA dropped the ball
While the NBA investigated betting activity tied to that game last year and cleared Rozier, federal prosecutors now say he was directly involved.
“A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication,” Rozier’s attorney, James Trust said in a statement. “They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel.”
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley blasted the league Thursday night, saying, “the NBA dropped the ball” by clearing Rozier prematurely. Others have pointed out that the league lacks subpoena power and other tools available to the FBI.
“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the league said in a statement. “Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
FanDuel and DraftKings said they are cooperating fully with regulators and law enforcement. Both pointed to stark contrasts between legal and illegal betting markets, which are under no obligation to report suspicious activity to leagues, data monitoring groups or law enforcement.
Inside the sports rigging network
At the center of both the NBA and college-basketball probes is Fairley, a Mississippi-based betting tout with prior federal convictions.
According to the FBI, Fairley’s group relied on insiders to trade confidential team information for profit, including Eric Earnest and Shane Hennen, a communications specialist who allegedly helped mask the group’s online footprint.
Prosecutors say Fairley’s accounts also placed wagers on college and international basketball, using the same aliases and payment routes, suggesting a larger “ pattern of systemic exploitation across leagues.”
FBI Deputy Director Kash Patel said Thursday, “This is only the tip of the iceberg,” adding that agents are investigating nine additional co-conspirators with potential overlap across professional and collegiate sports.
