Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier have been arrested in connection with probes into illegal gambling, US media reported Thursday.
ABC News, citing law enforcement sources, said the arrest of the 49-year-old Billups was linked to an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia.
Rozier was arrested in a separate but related betting case, the television network said.
CBS News said FBI Director Kash Patel is scheduled to make an announcement concerning the arrests in New York at 10:00am (14:00 GMT).
A former star player for the Detroit Pistons and a member of the NBA Hall of Fame, Billups retired from the league in 2014.
He has been the head coach of the Trail Blazers since 2021.
Billups was on the bench for the team’s first game of the season on Wednesday, a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
ABC said Billups would make a first court appearance in Oregon later Thursday.
Rozier, 31, was the 16th overall pick by the Boston Celtics in the 2015 draft.
He has averaged 13.9 points per game playing for three teams over his 11-year NBA career.
Rozier is suffering from a hamstring injury and did not play in the Heat’s opening game of the NBA season on Wednesday.
An NBA player, Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors, was banned from the league for life last year for his role in a betting scandal.
Porter, the younger brother of Michael Porter Jr of the Brooklyn Nets, was accused of placing bets linked to his performance on the court.
He has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.
NBA players are forbidden from wagering on NBA games under league rules. Those found to have gambled on NBA games risk a fine, suspension or life ban.
Billups’s arrest comes three months after that of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, who was arrested in July on charges of running illegal poker games at his mansion in the Los Angeles suburbs.
Arenas, who starred for the Washington Wizards, rented out the luxury home that he owned in Encino “for the purposes of hosting high-stakes illegal poker games” between September 2021 and July 2022, according to an indictment unsealed in Los Angeles.
Arenas is charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, one count of operating an illegal gambling business, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
He has pleaded not guilty.
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