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On the third day of the 2025-26 NBA season, the association was hit with disturbing news when three of its figures were arrested for their alleged roles in alleged illegal gambling schemes.
Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones were charged with illegal poker gambling, while Jones and Terry Rozier were arrested for their alleged involvement in sports gambling.
Rozier was a member of the Miami Heat when he was first investigated by the NBA and FBI. He missed most of the second half of last season and was scheduled to play for Miami this year, but was arrested the day after the team’s first game, in which he did not participate.
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Miami Heat forward Kevin Love reacts after guard Terry Rozier scores during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
Kevin Love was in the Heat locker room when they learned of Rozier’s investigation. He has since been traded to the Utah Jazz, but controversy persists throughout the league.
“It’s very complex. I mean, there’s so much that’s unanswered, and you take the NBA at its word. They did their due diligence, and they looked at Terry’s situation and came back, and he was kind of left where he was. Terry was able to come back and play, and then he went to training camp and now all of this is coming out. It’s an interesting space that we’re in because, obviously, sports betting is such a big part of sports culture now,” Love said in a recent press release. interview with PK Press Club Digital.
“And gambling, I think, is such a stain on our game. And I think you find yourself betting, tipping, fixing, and you’re going through a very dark space in a dark area. So to be able to move past that, I can’t imagine what it’s like for the Blazers, right? And I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to respond to that as the Miami Heat. It just creates such a distraction. And yet, we don’t know what’s real, right? This has to continue to play itself out and we’re seeing it in different sports now, but I think for the sake of the NBA and the greater sports fraternity, this problem needs to be resolved in a way that we can move forward and have, I guess, a healthier relationship with all of this sports betting.
“I don’t know what the answer to all of this is, but at the league office, Adam [Silver] is really smart. There will be a way to resolve this problem in a positive way. I believe in it.”
Utah Jazz forward Kevin Love (42) handles the ball against Charlotte Hornets forward Moussa Diabaté (14) during the first quarter at Spectrum Center. (Jim Dedmon/Imagn Images)
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Love was in the league long before player accessories existed. But as the game became more widespread, he heard a lot more outrage from fans in arenas and saw more of it online.
“You see it all the time now, if someone bets on you and you don’t score or you come out of a game or you don’t get as many rebounds at the end, it becomes something that can be really ugly. You see it in your messages or in your DMs. When there’s money on the line, things get complicated…” Love said. “It’s so lucrative, and there’s so much money to be made that, from a business standpoint, I understand it, but I think there’s a dark side, and there’s a negative side that I think people need to know about, and it needs to be a little more transparent and open so that maybe we can start to foster a healthier relationship with it.
“But again, gambling and sports betting and everything else has been around forever. But now it’s just a click away, right? I have friends who do it and have a healthy relationship with them, and others who don’t. I think it’s an area I’m not very knowledgeable about.”
Hindsight is 20/20, but it probably should have been obvious that an increase in fan voltage would follow. Even Love admitted he “hadn’t thought through” how much fan behavior might change.
Kevin Love of the Utah Jazz watches the first half of a basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on November 2, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (David Jensen/Getty Images)
“I said, ‘OK, this is new,’ he admitted. “I think gambling is essential, people go to Vegas and they built these huge casinos and resorts with people losing their money. It’s a very convoluted space, very layered and very complex. I’m sure it’s been considered, but when it’s this lucrative and there’s so much money to be made, you have to do it. I hope there’s a better way forward, and I hope it’s a pretty healthy one and only the negative outweighs the positive and results in sexier titles. But I think the negative definitely leaves a huge stain. »
