During the 2023 NBA season, the Boston Celtics hosted the Los Angeles Lakers in an in-season showdown. Tied at 105 a piece, as the clock approached three zeroes, Lakers forward LeBron James drove to the basket and was met at the rim with clear illegal contact.
No whistle. End of regulation. My jaw dropped.
How could the refs miss that? It was so obvious that even I could have made that call from my couch in New York.
What a blasphemous no-call. The missed foul was so egregious that Lakers guard Pat Beverley trolled the refs as he took a camera from the media and showed crew chief Eric Lewis, before ultimately receiving a technical foul.
The Celtics went on to win the game in overtime. If the call was reversed and James was awarded two free throws, he would have only needed to make one for the Lakers to win. The Lakers were 8.5-point underdogs, according to CBS Sports, and the total score line closed at 234. If the game ended right then, the Lakers would have covered the spread, won the moneyline and the under would have cashed.
What I enjoy most about watching the NBA is the authenticity and competitiveness of the league. I used to sit down and just watch, but now I sometimes question the integrity of the league due to certain plays and game outcomes.
Sure, “bad beats” in sports betting happen often, but when four officials are watching LeBron get mauled at the rim with two seconds left and don’t blow the whistle, it really makes me wonder — what if the refs rigged the game intentionally?
In recent news that rocked the NBA world, over two dozen individuals were indicted in the wake of recent federal investigations into insider information during NBA games and illegal, rigged poker games backed by organized crime.
On Oct. 23, 2025, Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were all taken into federal custody, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. They were among over 30 defendants arrested on charges including “wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery and illegal gambling,” Patel said in a press conference just hours after the arrests were made.
Billups was “charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families,” according to David Purdum of ESPN.
He allegedly used his celebrity status, acting as a “face card” to lure in playing opponents and knowingly defraud them at these illegal Texas hold’em tables.
The court date is set in the Eastern District Court in New York on Nov. 24.
According to former court documents, over $7 million was robbed from victims who participated in the fraudulent poker scheme.
Aside from poker schemes backed by the mafia, as part of an illegal sports gambling probe investigation, Miami Heat veteran point guard Terry Rozier was placed on immediate leave by the NBA shortly after the federal indictment was issued.
In 2023, while Rozier was playing in Charlotte, the NBA launched an investigation into the Hornets guard as sportsbooks reportedly detected “unusual betting activity” associated with Rozier. At the time, due to a lack of legal authority, the league could not reach any concrete conclusions about the alleged betting scandal.
Now, Rozier is facing charges in the Eastern District of New York as investigations were reopened.
It truly sucks that a prominent NBA veteran in Terry Rozier would jeopardize the integrity of the league. How are we as fans supposed to trust any outcome of games he ever participated in? I find it incredibly disgusting that someone would compromise the league to the extent that Rozier did.
For a player who has career earnings of over $150 million, it makes no sense why Rozier would intentionally tank his player props and rig the authenticity of games. I’m also curious if other players have done this, and if the layout of the league would look different with athletes playing honestly and respecting the game.
According to the recent indictments, investigators have allegedly found that Rozier informed outside figures, such as former Kentucky linebacker De’Niro Laster, to place large amounts on his prop bets as he planned to exit the game early due to injury with no intention of returning.
After receiving the undisclosed information from Rozier, Laster sold the non-public knowledge to several other co-conspirators who then placed unusually large bets on sportsbooks in Mississippi, “fading” Rozier’s prop bets. “Fading” a player simply means betting that the player will perform worse than the sportsbooks’ projections.
According to the federal indictment and Dan Rorabaugh, digital producer at GANNETT, “nine different people placed bets worth a total of $263,500 — all on Rozier’s unders for the game.”
Of 30 total wagers placed in under an hour, “all 30 bets won.”
How can we determine who’s really at fault? Is it the NBA players who relay the undisclosed information? Is it the co-conspirators who placed the bets? Regardless of who is to blame, commissioner of the NBA Adam Silver should implement stricter rules, regulations and consequences for dishonesty in the league.
Moving forward, I would love to see those responsible for these crimes and wrongdoings appropriately punished, whether it be permanent banishment from the NBA or even jail time. If Rozier, Billups and other defendants are found guilty, the NBA should work tirelessly with the authorities to crack down and apprehend any other internal violations within the league to restore the authenticity of the NBA and to bring back the game I love.
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