A solemn Shaquille O’Neal weighed in on the NBA sports betting scandal on Thursday night, saying he was “ashamed” on behalf of the basketball stars named among the 34 people arrested by the FBI.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and the retired combo guard Damon Jones were among those picked up by the bureau, with 13 alleged members of the Mafia also placed in cuffs in response to a two-part scam that FBI Director Kash Patel described as “mind-boggling” and said amounted to “the insider trading saga for the NBA.”
Responding on ESPN’s Inside the NBA, Shaq said: “All these guys knew what was at stake and I’m just ashamed that they put themselves and their family and the NBA in this position.
“We all know the rules, we all know the letter of the law and it’s just unfortunate. Innocent until proven guilty, but usually when the FBI has something, they have you. They’ll wait two, three, four, five years, but when they come knocking on your door, they have something.”
He continued: “We all know the letter of the law when it comes to gambling and sports gambling and I don’t want to sit up here like I’m some perfect guy… Every now and then, when I go to Vegas, I’ll play some craps and I’ll play some roulette but I never gambled at anyone’s house. Don’t know anything about poker.
“I’m ashamed that those guys would put their families and their careers in jeopardy. There’s an old saying in the ‘hood: ‘All money ain’t good money.’
“So if you’re making $9 million and you’re dealing a certain thing, like, how much more do you need? Especially if you know you get caught, you could do jail time, lose your career, put a bad image on yourself, your family or on the NBA… They dropped the ball.”
The FBI said the twin schemes – one of them focused on insider sports betting and another on poker games rigged with high-tech equipment – spanned years and involved tens of millions of dollars in illicit gains from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, and gambling.
Unusual betting patterns around a 2023 game, in which Rozier played with the Charlotte Hornets against the New Orleans Pelicans, sparked the sports betting investigation, the bureau said. Bookmakers in multiple states reported suspicious interest in the player’s statistics, resulting in a surge of bets on his points, rebounds and assists.
Billups’ arrest is reportedly part of the separate, but related, investigation into an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia.
A handful of defendants were charged in both cases, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said, including Jones, the former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach.
Both Rozier and Billups have been placed on “immediate leave” by the NBA and appeared in federal courts in Florida and Oregon respectively on Thursday.
James Trusty, Rozier's lawyer, said prosecutors “appear to be taking the word of spectacularly incredible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case.”
Chris Heywood, Billups’ attorney, said: “Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others.
“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his hall-of-fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.
He continued: “Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to.
“Chauncey Billups has never backed down. He does not plan to do so now. He will fight these allegations with the same tenacity that marked his 28-year career. We look forward to our day in court.”
The NBA said in a statement Thursday: “We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today. We will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
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