OT: NBA coach Billups caught in Mafia and sports gambling sting (LINK)

[ViperGTS]

Lebroni's team is also involved?

Sure sounds like it. This is gonna blow wide open.

 

[captain stone]

The FBI loves naming their operations.

That way, people will pay more attention to the cute nicknames instead of the Bureau's own corruption.

 

[Force Zero Boomer]

Terry Rozier has career earnings of over $160m. How colossally stupid does he have to be to get mixed up in this?

He seemed to be short of a full deck when he was here in Boston

 

[Real fan 02]

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/23/nba-billups-rozier-sports-betting-arrests-gambling.html

This is relevant because you're going to hear so much about people suspecting payoffs when things look funky. Especially regarding refs.

If a player or coach making many millions is going to get knotted up with the mob, you're telling me it's not going to happen to referees?

Hard to believe they will be completely clean.

The idea that you can bet but not on your own sport? That's kind of laughable.

There is no protection for college players or refs either.

I'm not going to mention the ridiculous calls in the Patriots game 2 weeks ago, but I watched a Champions League soccer game this weekend and read social media on the ref's decisions (which were some of the most bizarre things you've ever seen, like a goal disallowed because the defending team committed a penalty a split second before the goal). A guy given a red card because his arm swung backward and grazed the defender who was tackling him (American football style) on a breakaway. The social media were all about rumors and payoffs and crooked refs. Why? Because this happens in international soccer. There are crooked refs in soccer and scandals are frequent enough.

The NBA already has a problem with former refs like Donaghy and now you have coaches and players involved.

Great post as usual Up. Not much to add as you touched on so many things. This really became a point of emphasizing from the Jordan gambling scandal in the 90s.. the social media, technology in today's times makes something like this so much easier to uncover.

 

[upstater1]

It should be noted that Billups' arrest has NOTHING to do with all the basketball **** you spewed like another angry degenerate gambler. If you took the time to listen and fully read the story there were 2 facets to this investigation. One was the gambling on prop bets and basketball (Rozier) and one was about illegal hi stakes poker and NOTHING to do with basketball. Billups was arrested for allegedly being involved with that.

Also it should be noted that SUPPOSEDLY in our country, being arrested does NOT equal being guilty of anything. It just means you are accused.

I hate gambling.

Are you ok?

Your post is unhinged.

 

[ViperGTS]

Great post as usual Up. Not much to add as you touched on so many things. This really became a point of emphasizing from the Jordan gambling scandal in the 90s.. the social media, technology in today's times makes something like this so much easier to uncover.

Yeah Stern gave Jordan two options. Either "retire" and go play baseball for a couple of years or get suspended for gambling.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

Terry Rozier has career earnings of over $160m. How colossally stupid does he have to be to get mixed up in this?

My guess is that he is a degenerate gambler who got himself upside down with some bad people. Jordan rules have an ugly dark side with players trying to emulate his lifestyle.

 

[ViperGTS]

Fun fact. I got into a pretty heated debate on a Celtics forum I am now banned from for telling one of the wannabe reporters to get off his ass and question the leagues BS when it comes to the referees and their BS. Basically was telling me to do it myself because he didn't want to lose his access basically.

Guardians of the gate wouldn't even touch this, and you want to believe that none of these reporters sniffed any of this over the years? Please. Shame on all of them.

 

[Brick27]

Lol’d at one of Bron’s biggest knob bobbers, ESPN, immediately coming out and pounding the table to clear any wrong doing on his end.

 

[XLIX]

Players always gave Belichick credit for not going along with Goodell/Gambling/Mafia's insistence that he tell everyone where their injuries were.

The injury report exists to assist legal and illegal gambling at the expense of the health of players.

The injury report exists to prevent precisely one of the situations we have here: Make all injury info public so that no one has inside information and takes advantage of that info.

 

[XLIX]

I've always thought that the shufflemaster could be rigged!! now I know its true! More gamblers are going to demand hand shuffling

Because hand shuffling can't be rigged?

 

[XLIX]

Lol’d at one of Bron’s biggest knob bobbers, ESPN, immediately coming out and pounding the table to clear any wrong doing on his end.

In all fairness, based on what has come out, LeBron did nothing wrong. A teammate (allegedly) passed on info about LeBron without his knowledge or consent. Obviously, info about LeBron is going to be somewhat more valuable than info about Adou Theiro.

 

[ViperGTS]

 

[ViperGTS]

 

[Brick27]

In all fairness, based on what has come out, LeBron did nothing wrong. A teammate (allegedly) passed on info about LeBron without his knowledge or consent. Obviously, info about LeBron is going to be somewhat more valuable than info about Adou Theiro.

Totally get it. It’s all alleged at this point, so making a definitive claim either way feels silly—ESPN included.

 

[JPPT1974]

Seems like the tipping of the iceberg for this scandal. Many more players can be involved current and former.

 

[upstater1]

And they'd destroy these couch potato sports fans who make fun of them.

 

[1960Pats]

As an aside note on how things have changed:

I was writing fantasy football articles during the late 90's and the Patriots refused my press pass because of the association fantasy sports had with gambling.

Not too long ago I commented here about football owners like Kraft and Jerry Jones investing in gambling sites. I was told by one clown here that I was jealous.

I stopped gambling a long, long time ago, after seeing many lives ruined by that addiction.

 

[1960Pats]

It should be noted that Billups' arrest has NOTHING to do with all the basketball **** you spewed like another angry degenerate gambler. If you took the time to listen and fully read the story there were 2 facets to this investigation. One was the gambling on prop bets and basketball (Rozier) and one was about illegal hi stakes poker and NOTHING to do with basketball. Billups was arrested for allegedly being involved with that.

Also it should be noted that SUPPOSEDLY in our country, being arrested does NOT equal being guilty of anything. It just means you are accused.

I think the words "if true" go along with any comments here, even if we don't use them.

It's kind of naive to think that an NBA player or coach that's hooked by criminals isn't using his own sport for them.

 

[Thelonious]

The NBA: lousy basketball played by people no one can root for. I used to follow the league, but it's been a big no thanks for the last 20 years or so.