You know what they say about casinos – the house always wins.
Despite that, tens of millions of Americans engage in gambling every year, with sports wagers taking up a lot of space under that umbrella. You can hardly watch a sports game these days without having FanDuel or DraftKings advertisements shoved down your throat at every commercial break. Even our beloved College Gameday now picks “against the spread” on Saturday mornings rather than just predicting a winner.
Within professional sports, betting scandals among athletes are historically commonplace. The Black Sox Scandal certainly comes to mind. Hell, the MLB’s all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, was blacklisted until very recently, even as the league continued to cozy up to betting sponsors.
Arkansas itself was a hotbed for the Italian Mob back in its heyday, as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano both hung out at The Southern Club and the Majestic Hotel in Hot Springs, frequenting the Oaklawn race track. Numerous MLB Hall of Famers hung out and trained there, too, such as Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and Cy Young.
More recent scandals include Calvin Ridley in the NFL, Shohei Ohtani in the MLB and many more. Since the Supreme Court declared bans on sports gambling unconstitutional in 2023, at least 23 professional players or coaches have been suspended or banned from their respective leagues over betting violations, according to CNN.
At the college level, Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was fired in 2023 over activity related to gambling. Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer caught some scrutiny this summer over some suspicious Venmo transactions.
So I suppose it should come as no surprise when an FBI gambling bust indicted multiple NBA players and coaches on Thursday.
The Feds Put on a Full-Court Press
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones were among the more than 30 people arrested in two separate gambling-related cases, according to NBC. In one of the alleged schemes, poker games were rigged using X-ray tables that could read face-down cards. The Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese mafia families were allegedly backing these games.
No Arkansas affiliates were caught up in the sting, but the indicted NBA trio crossed paths with numerous Natural State natives and former Razorbacks throughout their careers.
Rozier, a Louisville alum nicknamed “Scary Terry,” has split his 10 years in the Association with the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat. In Boston, he played alongside Coty Clarke in 2015, a former Razorback forward under Mike Anderson.
In Charlotte, Rozier played with Arkansas native and Kentucky alum Malik Monk, as well as Little Rock native and Razorback alum Nick Smith Jr. Smith has since been signed by the Los Angeles Lakers, while Monk is currently playing for the Sacramento Kings. Nevada product Cody Martin, who was coached by Eric Musselman before he came to Fayetteville, was also on the Hornets from 2022-24.
After getting traded to Vice City last year, the 31-year-old joined forces with first round draft pick Kel’el Ware, a big man from North Little Rock who starred for Oregon and Indiana in college.
Chauncey Billups’ Arkansas Connections
Billups won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons and made the All-Star team five times across a 17-year playing career. In Detroit, he shared the floor with Arkansas legend Corliss Williamson, who anchored the Hogs’ national championship team in 1994. They joined forces to take down the mighty Los Angeles Lakers, anchored by Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Little Rock native Derek Fisher, in five games in the 2004 NBA Finals.
Shooting guard Todd Day, the all-time leading scorer in Arkansas program history, was teammates with Billups on the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2000-01. West Memphis native and former Razorback star Sonny Weems shared the floor with him in 2008-09 with the Denver Nuggets.
Former Arkansas floor general Courtney Fortson, too, was on the Los Angeles Clippers with Billups in 2011-12.
Damon Jones (not to be confused with Arkansas’ former director of basketball operations of the same name) spent a dozen years in the NBA before spending a few years as an assistant coach for LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers. As a player, he also crossed paths with Williamson in Detroit in the 2001-02 season.
Once again, none of these Arkansans have been implicated in the scandal in any nature – that’s not what this article is. It’s merely interesting to see how many Razorbacks and Natural Staters crossed paths with the players now at the forefront of a potentially historic gambling case.
***
The indicted players also crossed paths with several Kentucky products who played for Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari. Rozier played with James Young in Boston, Malik Monk, PJ Washington and Nick Richards in Charlotte, and Bam Adebayo in Miami. Billups coached the Wildcat trio of Kevin Knox, Shaedon Sharpe and Ashton Hagans in Portland.
***
Regardless of your rooting allegiances, this gambling scandal has the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster movie, from professional athletes/coaches being roped in to the mafia’s involvement:
Did you know Al Capone spent time in Hot Springs?
***
Is Arkansas basketball being underrated by KenPom? Falling outside of the metric’s preseason top 25 isn’t necessarily a bad thing, based on our research:
***
More coverage of Arkansas basketball from BoAS…
