The NBA world was rocked a few weeks ago after player Terry Rozier and coach Chauncey Billups were arrested after a gambling investigation by the FBI. Decades after the Tim Donahue scandal, the NBA has another gambling-related scandal on their hands. Both Rozier and Billups allegedly used their insider information to get an advantage in sports betting.
Now, it seems like more and more players who did the same thing are getting revealed. A recent report by The Athletic revealed that an unnamed Orlando Magic player became involved in a gambling scheme in 2023. The player, who was a starter at the time, passed on information about the team's intentions to bet on Magic games.
“There were other teams mentioned in the federal charges for illegal betting activity around their games, including the Orlando Magic,” the article said. “According to the government, a ‘regularly starting player' for the Magic told a gambler that the team planned to “tank,” or sit its starters, in an April 2023 game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The gambler allegedly sold the information to other known bettors to place bets against the Magic.”
The article also mentions that the aforementioned player is no longer with the team, and that the Magic was not contacted by the FBI. “The Magic’s statement, released when those sweeping charges were filed in October, said the player mentioned was believed to be out of the organization, and the NBA approved the team’s statement prior to its release, league sources said,” the article said.
The Magic played two games against the Cavaliers in April of 2023. After winning the first of their back-to-back games, Orlando decided to rest their starters in the next game, a day after. The result was a 118-94 blowout in favor of Cleveland. The Magic finished the 2022-23 season with a 34-48 record.
