Kash Patel Announces 31 Suspects In Huge NBA/Mafia Sports-Betting Operation

I didn't cover this yesterday because I thought it was a Pete Rose situation. IIRC, Rose was accused of betting on baseball, but not the games he played in. So this was a violation of the rule but not evidence he was throwing games for money.

But apparently, NBA players did throw games for money, and told their mafia partners which games they'd be throwing. Specifically, some players left the games early or claimed an injury to not play, and tipped off the mafia that they'd be doing so, thus either throwing the game or cutting down on points scored (which is a big area of sports betting).

So, belatedly, I'll mention the story now.

With my apologies -- I thought it was some bullshit about players betting on online poker against league rules or something.

FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday morning announced a sweeping federal investigation alleging at least 31 defendants -- including an NBA player and an NBA coach -- were involved in illegal gambling schemes.

"You hear a lot about our work of defending the homeland and crushing violent crime. Well, this work is also representative of a colossal portion of the FBI's mandate to keep America safe and to keep our entertainment industry fair and secure," Patel said at a press conference in Washington, D.C., announcing the probe.

He and other federal prosecutors said the probe is, in fact, two cases: one related to the NBA and the other to illegal, rigged poker games.

Patel and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, Jr., said the overall probe was "years-long," across 11 states and involved tens of millions of dollars.

"Your winning streak has ended," Nocella said.

He and Patel also confirmed reports from earlier in the morning that Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trailblazer coach Chauncey Billups were arrested earlier in the day in connection with the probe.

Prosecutors also said Mafia crime families were involved in the rigged poker games, which included X-ray machines to see face-down cards. They said members helped collect debts for a cut of the winnings.

Regarding the NBA games, he alleged Rozier was involved in a scene in which players didn't play or left games early, in an attempt to influence scores and betting.

LeBron James is tangentially involved (but not implicated -- not yet, anyway).

Knowing the extent of players' injuries -- if they can play, if they can't play, or if they can play but with a diminished capacity -- is important information when you're betting. Teams generally keep this stuff as secret as possible and only disclose what they absolutely have to, by league rules.

Knowing in advance if a big play-maker will or won't play, or can play but will be impaired, is valuable information in betting.

One NBA player passed information about LeBron James' injuries to his mafia partners.

Details of LeBron James' injury status were sold by his pal and former Los Angeles Lakers coach Damon Jones as part of a massive prop betting scheme, according to court docs and law enforcement sources.

Prop bets -- "proposition bets" -- are bets made about a proposition other than who will win or lose. Like, "Will LeBron James score at least 30 points in tonight's game?"

Normies mostly bet on the outcomes of games. More serious gamblers put a lot of money on these proposition bets.

Jones, an ex Cleveland Cavs player and "unofficial assistant coach" for the Lakers during the 2022-2023 season, sent a message to one of the betting ring members on Feb. 9, 2023 urging him to place a large bet on the Lakers' opponent the Milwaukee Bucks, because James would be out with an injury that night, the sources told The Post.

"Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out!," Jones texted, according to the indictment.

The player, whom sources identified as James, did not play after reporting a lower body injury, and the Lakers lost.

Jones is a longtime friend of James who played with him on the Cavs earlier in James' career.

Jones also separately received $2,500 for hawking a supposed injury tip -- which turned out to be bogus -- about another Lakers star player before a Jan. 15, 2024 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

$2,500?

Shaq was asked about this and made the obvious point: "You're making nine million a year -- how much more do you need?"

And committing a serious crime that can get you banned from a lifetime of lucrative work for twenty-five hundred bucks?

Risk-reward, fellas. Risk-reward.

I can't really think of any political angles here. The media is talking up the perils of allowing sports betting out of Las Vegas and into everyone's laptops and phones. As a billion dollar business turns into a trillion dollar business, the opportunities for graft skyrocket.

I guess that's a decent take, though I don't know if the answer should be betting prohibition.

I don't like seeing sports betting commercials every other minute and I guess I think it's pretty sad that this vice is now so popular, but I'm not sure I really care enough to care.

I'm certainly happy to see another woke sports league take another fat shiner to the eyes.

How are you doing? I don't know if you've checked the calendar, but it's all Friday up in this piece.

posted by Ace at 12:10 PM

| Access Comments