Article by David Istrate – Published Monday, October 27, 2025 22:20 / Updated Monday, October 27, 2025 22:34
The 30 NBA teams each received a report from the North American Basketball League in connection with the scandal of proportions erupted after Terry Rozier, the player of the Miami Heat, and Chauncey Billups, the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, were arrested for their association with the betting mafia.
A few days ago, Terry Rozier, the 31-year-old basketball player of the Miami Heat, and Chauncey Billups (49), the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, were arrested, along with Damon Jones, a former player and coach in the NBA, for their involvement in two cases investigated by the FBI.
Two illegal operations targeting the NBA were uncovered by the FBI
The first of them, called “Operation Nothing But Net“, targeted the illegal betting mafia and identified the involvement of the Italian mafia group La Cosa Nostra. Terry Rozier is accused of injuring himself and exiting a match on March 23, 2023, with his associates placing bets worth more than $200,000.
The second operation is called “Royal Flush”, a term taken from poker, because it refers to the involvement of some NBA personalities, including Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones, in some rigged poker games.
In this context, the NBA management decided to send each team a report with the first conclusions a few days after the scandal broke out. The NBA has expressed concern about how the betting industry has evolved and is considering regulating it to protect players and fans.
The NBA is also considering some training and education programs for NBA staff and players, while wanting to monitor as effectively as possible the bets placed on matches in the world's most important league.
NBA report: 'An opportune time to carefully reevaluate how sports betting should be regulated'
With the expansion of legal betting in most US states, the recurrence of integrity issues in various sports, and the emergence of new betting formats and markets, this is an opportune time to carefully re-evaluate how sports betting should be regulated and how best to protect sports leagues, players and their fans.
Although the unusual under bets on Terry Rozier during the March 2023 game were detected in real time because they were legal bets, we believe more can be done from a legal, regulatory perspective to protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliate leagues. In particular, betting on individual player performances involves heightened integrity concerns and requires greater care.
We have also begun a process to review the league's policies related to injury reporting, training and education of NBA personnel, and safety measures for NBA players.
With sports betting now occupying such a large part of today's sports landscape, every effort must be made to ensure that NBA players, coaches and other personnel are fully aware of the serious risks that gambling can impose on their careers and livesthat our injury disclosure policies are adequate and that players are protected from harassment by punters.
We are also exploring ways to improve our existing integrity monitoring programs, both internal and external, to more effectively use artificial intelligence and other tools to synthesize all available data from bookmakers, social media and other sources in order to identify suspicious betting activities
– The report sent by the NBA to each team
