Meyer Lansky II explains mob ties with athletes amid NBA arrests

Two former NBA gamers turned coaches, one in every of whom is a Corridor of Famer, had been arrested Thursday after alleged involvement in a rigged poker scheme that additionally listed members of the La Cosa Nostra crime households as suspects.

Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones, the latter of whom can also be a defendant within the sports activities betting case involving Terry Rozier, had been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit cash laundering.

The 2 are alleged to have knowingly participated in rigged poker video games known as “face playing cards,” the place the Justice Division mentioned they had been “members of the Dishonest Groups and obtained a portion of the prison proceeds in change for his or her participation within the scheme.”

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Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones had been arrested Thursday as a part of an unlawful poker scheme. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Photos; Invoice Frakes/Sports activities illustrated through Getty Photos)

“Billups and Jones particularly had been used to lure victims to the Video games due to their standing as former skilled athletes,” the DOJ mentioned.

In accordance with the Justice Division, victims misplaced at the least $7.15 million on account of the scheme, courting again to April 2019.

However with profitable NBA careers each taking part in and on the sidelines, one wonders what may cause them to grow to be embroiled in such schemes.

“Properly, they’re danger takers. Such athletes have quite a lot of adrenaline,” speculated Meyer Lansky II, the well-known gangster’s grandson, in a latest interview on Fox Information Digital. “They suppose that not solely can they make tens of millions by way of a staff, however that they’ll additionally make more cash playing. Or they’re hooked on playing. There are lots of people like that. They simply wish to be concerned. Perhaps additionally they just like the reference to the individuals accountable for it, or behind these betting setups and conditions.”

Portland Path Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups watches from the sidelines in the course of the first half in opposition to the San Antonio Spurs at Moda Heart in Portland, Oregon, on April 6, 2025. (Soobum Im/Imagn photos)

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WHO ARE CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, TERRY ROZIER AND DAMON JONES? NBA SUBJECTS ARRESTED IN ILLEGAL GAMBLING PROBE

Lansky II added that there’s a potential sense of energy among the many athletes themselves.

“I believe anybody who will get a unprecedented amount of cash, and has quite a lot of followers behind them, can get to the purpose the place they’re simply blind to, ‘Nothing can occur to me. Why do not I simply do that?’ I believe that may be performed with any background, not simply sports activities. It is a highly effective factor. Cash, energy and fame, it generally takes over,” he mentioned.

As for the mafia, “sports activities was all the time an enormous factor,” Lansky II mentioned.

“It was fairly straightforward to unravel. It has all the time had advantages…” he mentioned. “Yeah, I believe it is fairly straightforward to entry that. You are able to do it as a result of while you’re within the casinos, you could have surveillance and also you’re watching individuals, and that is quite a bit riskier than sports activities betting.”

With the legalization of playing throughout the nation, it’s a lot simpler for athletes to grow to be concerned in damaging the integrity of the sport. Nonetheless, Lansky II believes that unlawful ties and schemes will all the time happen for a number of causes.

Portland Path Blazers coach Chauncey Billups leaves the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse after a listening to following his arrest on federal playing fees in Portland, Oregon, U.S., October 23, 2025. (John Rudoff/Reuters)

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“Safety – you do not have to provide you with the entrance cash, you usually place it with a bookmaker. They are going to search for you should you do not pay, however , due to such causes they’ve nice management and nice energy. They’ve alternative ways wherein they do issues with somebody. They’ve affect themselves after they discuss to somebody A participant. There’s a reference to the mafia and well-known individuals and sports activities individuals, they often like that connection. It provides them one thing. It is a sturdy entity in our society, in order that’s one of many causes. They belief them too.”

Lansky II will launch a ebook Tuesday, “The Lansky Legacy,” wherein he’s a co-author who tells “the reality” about his grandfather and dispels “many misconceptions” about him.

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