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Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA guard and coach Damon Jones were among those arrested by the FBI as part of an illegal gambling and sports betting probe on Thursday.
The investigation was tied to the members of the La Cosa Nostra crime families.
The arrests, which have rocked the NBA world, are another chapter in which notable players and coaches have been involved in illegal sports gambling over the last century.
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(Left) Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups talks to a referee during a timeout in the first half against the Sacramento Kings at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 10, 2025. (Right) Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) walks off the court after the game against the Detroit Pistons at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on Nov. 12, 2024. (Jaime Valdez/Imagn Images;Rick Osentoski/Imagn Images)
Here is a look back at some of the biggest betting scandals in professional sports.
- In 1920, eight members of the Chicago White Sox were indicted by a Chicago grand jury for fixing the 1919 World Series. It is known as the “Black Sox Scandal.” The jury returned a not guilty verdict on the players, but White Sox owner Charles Comiskey suspended the players, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. A year after the suspension, they were banned permanently by new baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.
- In 1946, Hockey Hall of Famer Babe Pratt was suspended for gambling. He was reinstated weeks later, with the NHL Board of Governors issuing a warning that any further instances of gambling would lead to a lifetime suspension for a player.
- In 1948, two years after the NHL Board of Governors’ warning, Billy Taylor and Don Gallinger were issued lifetime bans for betting on games.
- In 1951, four members of the Adolph Rupp-coached Kentucky Wildcats were accused of taking bribes from gamblers for an NIT game against Loyola in the 1948-1949 season. There were 35 active and former players accused of fixing at least 86 games between 1947 and 1951. An NCAA investigation found several violations, which led to the cancellation of Kentucky’s 1952-53 season.
- In 1989, Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose received a lifetime ban for gambling on games. Rose was found to have placed numerous bets on the Reds to win from 1985-1987 while he played and managed the team. He admitted to gambling in 2004 after years of claiming his innocence. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred posthumously removed Rose from the permanently ineligible list in May 2025, months after his death, allowing Rose to finally be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rose is baseball’s all-time leader in hits with 4,256.
NBA LEGEND CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, HEAT’S TERRY ROZIER ARRESTED AS PART OF FBI GAMBLING PROBE
Pete Rose waves to fans during the unveiling of a bronze statue dedicated to him at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 17, 2017. (IMAGN)
- In 1996, 13 Boston College football players were suspended for gambling. Two of the players bet against their own team during a 45-17 loss to Syracuse. Head coach Dan Henning informed school officials upon hearing allegations of players placing bets with bookies and resigned. No evidence of point-shaving was found.
- In 2007, then-assistant coach Rick Tocchet was placed on two years of probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy and promoting gambling as an assistant coach with the then-Phoenix Coyotes. He was reinstated by the NHL the following season. Also, initially implicated in a gambling scheme titled “Operation Slapshot” involving a New Jersey-based ring were several players; Wayne Gretzky’s wife, Janet Jones; and Gretzky’s former agent and-then Coyotes general manager Michael Barnett. Tocchet is currently the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.
- In 2008, NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to wire fraud and transmitting betting information for taking thousands of dollars from a gambler in exchange for inside tips on games, including games he worked. He was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 months behind bars.
- In 2023, golfer Phil Mickelson was alleged to have wagered more than $1 billion over the last three decades in a book written by gambler Billy Walters. In the book, Walters wrote that Mickelson wanted to bet $400,000 on the 2012 Ryder Cup, when he played for the United States. The six-time major winner denied betting on the Ryder Cup, and wrote in a social media post that he has stopped gambling. Mickelson said that he crossed the line from moderation to addiction.
- In 2023, Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto was suspended 41 games for sports gambling. The NHL said there was no evidence that Pinto bet on hockey, and Pinto did not reveal any details upon his return to the Senators.
NBA PLAYER TERRY ROZIER’S LAWYER SLAMS FBI AFTER ARREST
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) with translator Ippei Mizuhara against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training baseball game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
- In March 2024, the Los Angeles Dodgers fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and close friend of newly acquired two-way star Shohei Ohtani, following reports regarding his ties to an illegal bookmaker. Three months later, Mizuhara pleaded guilty in federal court to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani’s bank account. He spent the money to cover his growing gambling bets and debts with an illegal bookmaker, plus $325,000 worth of baseball cards and his own medical bills. Mizuhara capitalized on the language barrier to keep Ohtani’s financial advisers from understanding their client, and at times, Mizuhara even impersonated the player to the bank to prolong the fraud.
- In April 2024, the NBA banned Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games. Porter even bet on the Raptors to lose. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Porter’s actions “blatant.” The investigation started after unusual gambling patterns about Porter’s performance on March 20 against the Sacramento Kings. The league determined that Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status prior to that game and said that another individual — known to be an NBA bettor — placed an $80,000 bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sports book. That bet would have won $1.1 million.
- In June 2024, San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned for life by MLB for betting on baseball. MLB said Marcano placed 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 with a legal sportsbook in 2022 and 2023. The 24-year-old Venezuelan, with 149 games of major league experience, became the first active player in a century banned for life because of gambling.
- Also in 2024, then-Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly was also suspended for one year for betting on baseball while in the minor leagues, and three minor leaguers also were banned for one year for betting on big league games: pitchers Jay Groome of San Diego and Andrew Saalfrank of Arizona, and infielder José Rodríguez of Philadelphia. Each of those four players wagered under $1,000. Saalfrank and Rodríguez played previously in the majors.
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Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase during a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, June 17, 2025. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo, file)
- In February 2025, umpire Pat Hoberg was fired by MLB for sharing his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games and for intentionally deleting electronic messages pertinent to the league’s investigation. While MLB said the probe did not uncover evidence Hoberg personally bet on baseball or manipulated games, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill recommended on May 24, 2024, that Hoberg be fired. Manfred upheld Hill’s decision. Among the highest-rated umpires at judging the strike zone, Hoberg could apply for reinstatement no earlier than 2026 spring training. MLB said the friend made 141 baseball bets between April 2, 2021, and Nov. 1, 2023, totaling almost $214,000 with an overall win of nearly $35,000. Eight of the bets involved games where Hoberg was working.
- In July 2025, Major League Baseball placed Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz on non-disciplinary paid leave due to a gambling probe. Nearly a month later, two-time American League Reliever of the Year Emmanuel Clase joined him. MLB extended Clase and Ortiz’s paid leave “until further notice while MLB continues its investigation.” There is no update on the gambling probe at the time of this writing.
- In September 2025, the NCAA announced it was investigating potential violations of sports betting rules involving 13 former men’s basketball players who competed for Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley State. The NCAA’s integrity monitoring program and network of sources flagged text messages and direct messages on social media platforms and revealed unusual betting activities around regular-season games. The violations include student-athletes betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting, manipulating scoring or outcomes and/or refusing to participate in the investigation.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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