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Two former NBA players turned coaches, one of whom is a Hall of Famer, were arrested Thursday after their alleged involvement in a rigged poker scheme in which members of the La Cosa Nostra crime families were also listed as accused.
Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones, the latter also a defendant in the Terry Rozier sports betting case, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The two men allegedly knowingly participated in rigged poker games, dubbed “face cards,” who the Justice Department said were “members of the cheating crews and received a portion of the proceeds of crime in exchange for their participation in the scheme.”
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Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones were arrested Thursday in connection with an illegal poker scheme. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images; Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
“Billups and Jones, in particular…were used to lure victims to the games because of their status as former professional athletes,” the DOJ said.
The scheme has caused victims to lose at least $7.15 million since April 2019, according to the Justice Department.
However, with successful careers in the NBA, both as a player and on the sidelines, one wonders what could lead them to allegedly be involved in such projects.
“Well, they take risks. Athletes like that, they have a lot of adrenaline,” speculated Meyer Lansky II, the famous mobster’s grandson, in a recent interview with PK Press Club Digital. “They think that not only can they have millions to be paid by a team, but they can also earn more with their game. Or they have a gambling addiction. There are a lot of people like that. They just want to be involved in it. Maybe they like the affiliation with the people who are in charge of this, or even behind these setups and game situations.”
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups watches from the sidelines during the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on April 6, 2025. (Soobum Im/Imagn Images)
WHO ARE CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, TERRY ROZIER AND DAMON JONES? NBA SUBJECTS ARRESTED IN ILLEGAL GAMING INVESTIGATION
Lansky II added that there is a potential sense of power from the athletes themselves.
“I think anyone who gets an extraordinary amount of money and has a lot of fans behind them, yeah, can get to the point where they’re just blind to, ‘Nothing can happen to me. Why don’t I do this?’ I think this is the case with any training, not just sports. It’s a powerful thing. Money, power and fame sometimes take over,” he said.
As for the mafia, “sports has always been big business,” according to Lansky II.
“It was pretty easy to fix. It’s always been beneficial…” he said. “Yeah, I think it’s pretty easy to get into. You can do it because, if you’re in casinos, you have surveillance and people watching, and it’s a lot riskier than sports betting.”
With the legalization of gambling across the country, it is much easier for athletes to get involved in undermining the integrity of the game. However, Lansky II believes that illegal links and schemes will still occur for multiple reasons.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups leaves the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse after a hearing following his arrest on federal gambling charges in Portland, Oregon, United States, October 23, 2025. (John Rudoff/Reuters)
“Protection: You don’t have to come up with the money upfront, you often put it up with a bookmaker. They will come after you if you don’t pay, but you know, for reasons like that, they have a lot of control and a lot of power. They have different ways of doing things with someone. They have influence themselves when they talk to maybe. A player. There is an affiliation with the mafia, famous people and athletes, they sometimes like this connection. It gives them something. It’s a strong entity in our society, so that’s one of the reasons. They also trust them. »
Lansky II will release a book on Tuesday, “The Lansky Legacy,” in which he is a co-author that tells “the truth” about his grandfather and refutes “many misconceptions” about him.
