Former Detroit Pistons superstar and current Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones have been arrested for mafia-lead sports rigging and gambling schemes along with 32 others. They were arrested early Thursday morning. The two are expected to be a part of rigging certain NBA games and could receive severe punishment for their actions. Something similar happened in the MLB this summer with Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase.
The news spread quickly and some NBA personnel shared their thoughts on their situation. Detroit Pistons head coach, and someone close to Chauncey Billups J.B Bickerstaff had this to say about the situation “hates to see what he’s going through right now” and that everyone should “allow due process to happen.” Portland Trail Blazers players are still supporting their coach the best they can during this situation, and former Trail Blazer Anfernee Simons told reporters “It hit me pretty tough for sure”(New York Post) and “and it’s just an unfortunate situation”(New York Post). The NBA world is still learning what’s going on with Chauncey Billups and NBA personnel are with him during this situation.
Miami Heat star guard Terry Rozier also got arrested and many believed he would rig games that he participated in. One example of that happening was when he played the Cleveland Cavaliers and he made some very questionable plays, like when he tried to pass the ball to someone, but he threw it right to the defender and started running backwards before he even
passed the ball. Also there are allegations that Terry Rozier was a deadbeat dad, and mistreated his family. The girl he had a baby with claims that it “supports his reckless behavior” and that Rozier is not a good person. Overall, Rozier has many accusations towards him and it could be difficult to dig out of the hole he dug himself in.
Damon Jones, a former teammate of Lebron James was also arrested with ties to this scandal. Apparently Jones used to go around Las Vegas gloating about how he was friends with Lebron James and he also would be on Lebron. This could trace to Lebron being involved in the scandal at some point, it is interesting to see if that possibly would happen.
The MLB had something very similar unfold in the summer, and it hit a few pictures on the Cleveland Guardinals. The big one being Emmanuel Clase, who is their star closer. Ever since the allegations dropped, it now seems very likely that Clase has thrown his last MLB pitch.
Overall, the discovery of this scandal could lead to many things happening in the NBA, and there could be so many people that are involved that haven’t been discovered yet. 3 people have already been arrested because of these events and if many more are involved that could potentially lead to the NBA shutting down.
