fifth season

Shaquille O’Neal said he’s “ashamed” of the people involved in the gambling scandal that rocked the NBA on Thursday.

Charles Barkley called two of the individuals involved in the matter “stupid.”

Kenny Smith said the situation is “super unfortunate.”

One day after the “Inside the NBA” crew made its ESPN debut, the three analysts, as well as host Ernie Johnson, had a huge story to discuss that had little to do with the actual game of basketball.

On Thursday morning, federal prosecutors unsealed two indictments that outlined separate schemes to rig sports bets and poker games. More than 30 people were arrested, including former Clippers player and current Portland head coach Chauncey Billups, who was charged with participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games run by Mafia families.

Also arrested were Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who is accused of being part of a scheme to provide private insider NBA information to help others profit from online bets, and retired player Damon Jones, who has been charged with taking part in both schemes.

“All these guys knew what was at stake, and I’m just ashamed that they put themselves and put their family and put the NBA in this position,” O’Neal said during Thursday’s broadcast. “We all know the rules. We all know the letter of the law. And it’s just unfortunate — you know, innocent till proven guilty, but usually when the FBI has something, they have you.”

He added: “I know Chauncey. I know Damon very well, played with Damon. … I’m ashamed that those guys will put their families and their careers in jeopardy. There’s an old saying in the hood, all money ain’t good money. So if you’re making $9 million, like, how much more do you need? Especially if you know you get caught, you can do jail time, lose your career, put a bad image on yourself or your family or on the NBA.”

Smith pointed out that “gambling is an addiction which could make you make illogical decisions,” but Barkley interjected his opinion that addiction had nothing to do with the decision Jones and Rozier made to help others make fraudulent bets.

“This ain’t got nothing to do with addiction. These dudes are stupid,” Barkley said. “Why are they stupid? You under no circumstances can you fix basketball games. Under no circumstances. … Like, Rozier makes $26 million. Him betting, giving people information or taking himself out of games — how much is he going to benefit taking himself out the game to get unders?”

Barkley added: “You can’t fix ball games. Like I said, this is separate from Chauncey, but the notion that guys are making all this money and giving information — come on, man, stop that. That got nothing to do with addiction. That’s just total stupidity on these two dudes parts.”

Billups — a five-time All-Star who was the 2004 NBA Finals MVP as a member of the Detroit Pistons and is in his fifth season as Portland’s coach — and 10-year NBA veteran Rozier were placed on immediate leave, the league announced Thursday.

Billups’ attorney issued a statement Thursday night strongly denying the allegations against his client.

“Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity,” attorney Chris Heywood said. “Men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others.”

Jones played three seasons with LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008 and was an assistant coach during the Lakers star‘s second stint in Cleveland. In one of the indictments, prosecutors allege Jones was an unofficial coach with the Lakers from 2022 to 2023 when he used inside information for sports betting.

NEW YORK — Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier are among more than 30 people charged in connection with schemes involving illegal sports betting and rigged poker games backed by Mafia, authorities said on Thursday.

Rozier is accused in participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information, officials said. Billups is charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families, authorities said.

The indictments are related to two major cases, one involving sports betting and the second involving rigged poker games, U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said at a news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel. In the first case, six defendants are accused of participating in an insider sports betting conspiracy that exploited confidential information about NBA athletes and teams, Nocella said. He called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”

The second case involves 31 defendants in a nationwide scheme to rig illegal poker games, Nocella said. The defendants include former professional athletes accused of using technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in underground poker games in the New York area that were backed by Mafia families, he said.

In the sports betting scheme, players sometimes altered their performance or took themselves out of games early, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. In one instance, Rozier, while playing for the Hornets, told other he was planning to leave the game early with a “supposed injury,” allowing others to place wagers that raked in thousands of dollars, Tisch said.

The indictment of Rozier and others says there are nine unnamed co-conspirators including a Florida resident who was an NBA player and an Oregon resident who was an NBA player from about 1997 to 2014 and an NBA coach since at least 2021, as well as a relative of Rozier.

Rozier and other defendants “had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches” that was likely to affect the outcome of games or players’ performances and provided that information to other co-conspirators in exchange for either a flat fee or a share of betting profits, the indictment says.

The NBA had no immediate comment. The league has investigated Rozier previously and still is looking into the actions of former Detroit player Malik Beasley, one of the sources told the AP.

Rozier was in uniform as the Heat played the Magic in Orlando, Florida, in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday evening, though he did not play in the game. He was taken into custody in Orlando early Thursday morning. The team didn’t immediately comment on the arrest.

A message was left with Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, on Thursday. Trusty previously told ESPN that Rozier was told that an initial investigation determined he did nothing wrong after he met with NBA and FBI officials in 2023, the sports network reported.

A message seeking comment was left with Billups on Thursday morning.

The case was brought by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn that previously prosecuted ex-NBA player Jontay Porter. The former Toronto Raptors center pleaded guilty to charges that he withdrew early from games, claiming illness or injury, so that those in the know could win big by betting on him to underperform expectations.

Billups was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year. The five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA point guard led the Detroit Pistons to their third league title in 2004 as NBA Finals MVP. Boston drafted the former Colorado star with the No. 3 pick overall in 1997. The player known as Mr. Big Shot also played for Toronto, Denver, Minnesota, the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers. Billups won the Joe Dumars Trophy, the NBA’s sportsmanship award, in 2009 while playing for his hometown Denver Nuggets.

The 49-year-old Billups is in his fifth season as Portland’s coach, compiling a 117-212 record. The Trail Blazers opened the season Wednesday night at home with a 118-114 loss to Minnesota.

A game involving Rozier that has been in question was played on March 23, 2023, a matchup between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier played the first 9 minutes and 36 seconds of that game — and not only did not return that night, citing a foot issue, but did not play again that season. Charlotte had eight games remaining and was not in playoff contention, so it did not seem particularly unusual that Rozier was shut down for the season’s final games.

In that March 23 game, Rozier finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists in that opening period — a productive quarter but well below his usual total output for a full game.

Posts still online from March 23, 2023, show that some bettors were furious with sportsbooks that evening when it became evident that Rozier was not going to return to the Charlotte-New Orleans game after the first quarter, with many turning to social media to say that something “shady” had gone on regarding the prop bets involving his stats for that night.

A prop is a type of wager that allows gamblers to bet on whether a player will exceed a certain statistical number, such as whether the player will finish over or under a certain total of points, rebounds, assists and more.

Richer, Reynolds and Marcelo write for the Associated Press. Durkin Richer reported from Washington, and Reynolds reported from Miami. Associated Press reporters David Collins in Hartford, Conn., and Larry Lage in Detroit contributed.