Shaquille O'Neal is appalled at the recent findings about the NBA.
On Thursday, the four-time NBA champion shared that he is “embarrassed” that several coaches and players allegedly had a hand in illegal sports betting as well as allegedly altering the game with rigged gambling schemes. So far, Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones, and Terry Rozier were taken into custody for their alleged roles in the illegal gambling incident alongside 30 others.
“I'm ashamed that those guys would put their families and their careers in jeopardy,” O'Neal said on Inside the NBA.
Billups, who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers, and former Cleveland Cavaliers star Damon Jones are being accused of helping Mafia members swindle cash from wealthy people in high-stakes poker games by fixing them to the Mafia members' advantage. The indictment claims that Billups and other former professional athletes would get a portion of the winnings, as their role was to be the “face cards” to gain the interests of the victims.
As for Rozier, who is currently a point guard for the Miami Heat, he is being accused of providing information to co-conspirators about an injury he suffered in a March 2023 game. This allowed the co-conspirators to bet under for his performance since the athlete left the game before it ended.
“There's an old saying in the hood,” O'Neal said. “‘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 can do jail time. Lose your career. Put a bad image on yourself or your family. Or on the NBA.”
“They dropped the ball,” he said.
In a statement, the NBA has put Rozier and Billups on leave. Jones is not employed by the league. The NBA is cooperating with authorities as this investigation is ongoing. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, shared his first reactions to the news during the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks game in Madison Square Garden on Friday (Oct. 24).
“My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver told Amazon Prime reporter Cassidy Hubbarth. “There’s nothing more important to the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition, so I had a pit in my stomach. It was very upsetting.”
