The scandal shaking the NBA and the U.S. sports world is rooted in the dark legacy of the Italian-American mafia. According to FBI evidence, behind the network of fixed games and illegal betting were members of New York’s notorious crime families, who for decades have controlled the Cosa Nostra — the organization that calls itself “our thing.”

The return of the “Five Families”

The case revealed today involves members of some of New York’s most infamous crime families — the Bonanno, Genovese, and Gambino clans. These are three of the legendary “Five Families” — along with the Colombo and Lucchese — that have controlled the city’s Italian-American underworld since 1931.

In the 1990s, large police operations and the RICO law (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), combined with Mayor Giuliani’s policies, dramatically reduced mafia activity. But, as today’s arrests show, the mob never truly disappeared — it merely adapted to the digital era of cybercrime and online betting.

The “Five Families” remain part of the broader American-Sicilian network of La Cosa Nostra, which cooperates closely with its Sicilian counterparts. “For Italian mobsters, New York is the ‘gym’ where new members are toughened,” criminologist Anna Sergi told the BBC.

The arrests that shocked the NBA

According to the FBI, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former NBA player Damon Jones were arrested for involvement in two parallel illegal betting cases.

The first case, codenamed “Operation Nothing But Bet,” involves six defendants who allegedly used insider information — and in some cases deliberately underperformed — to influence betting outcomes.

The second case includes 31 defendants accused of rigging poker games using technology such as contact lenses and X-ray tables that allowed players to read opponents’ cards.

The NBA announced that Billups and Rozier have been suspended pending investigation.

How the betting scheme worked — the “player props”

The network focused on so-called player props, a type of bet based on individual player statistics (points, rebounds, assists, etc.).

Bookmakers provide projected stats before each game — for example, 20.5 points for a player — and bettors wager whether the player will score over or under that number. Because these odds depend on a player’s form, the opponent, and playing condition, even small leaks of information can disrupt the balance.

In one notable case on March 23, 2023, Terry Rozier — then with the Charlotte Hornets — allegedly informed people in his circle that he would leave the game early due to a “minor injury.” The network reportedly exploited this tip, earning tens of thousands of dollars in profits.

“As the new season begins, his career is already frozen — not by injury, but by integrity,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tiss.

The anatomy of the fraud

Authorities identified at least seven NBA games between February 2023 and March 2024 as suspicious. The network’s main tactics included:

• Fake injuries, with players withdrawing early to affect results.
• Rigged poker games, where former pro athletes invited unsuspecting players to “trap tables” where everyone — even the dealer — was in on the scam.
• Special equipment such as contact lenses with embedded indicators, marked decks, and X-ray poker tables.
• Money laundering through crypto-based betting platforms and shell companies.
• Acts of violence, including an armed robbery to steal a card-shuffling machine, and extortion of victims who refused to pay.

According to the FBI, the scheme generated tens of millions of dollars in profits.

Insider information as a “weapon”

Investigators believe insider knowledge about player management was key — knowing when players would rest, who was injured, or when a team planned to bench key players in a decided game.

In a league with games almost every day, even a small leak of such data can swing massive amounts of money in betting markets.

LeBron James and the Bucks game

One example of insider information allegedly used to assist bettors involves former NBA player Damon Jones, who leaked undisclosed injury details during a February 2023 game.

Prosecutors claim that on February 9, 2023, before a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks, Jones texted an associate:

“Put a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the word gets out! [Player 3] isn’t playing tonight. Make enough bets so Jones can eat now!!!”

Although prosecutors did not name Player 3, Lakers star LeBron James did not play in that game.

The prosecution claims that the information Jones provided was not public at the time he revealed it. At that period, he was working as an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. He had previously served as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers during LeBron James’s second stint with the team, and had played alongside “the King” on the Cavs from 2005 to 2008.

“No one is above the law”

FBI Director Kash Patel described the fraud as “mind-boggling” — meaning astonishing in its scope and sophistication — emphasizing that the investigation covers not only illegal betting, but also money laundering and cryptocurrency-related fraud.

“The defendants hid behind complexity, money, and influence, believing that would shield them from justice,” Patel said, adding that “under President Trump’s leadership, there will be zero tolerance for such conduct.”

He noted that “all those involved will be held accountable in court, where the evidence will be presented.”

The 21st-century Mafia

The scandal once again highlights the mafia’s timeless ability to adapt and evolve — from the illegal gambling and prostitution of the 1950s to the digital match-fixing schemes of today.

FBI investigators believe that the collusion between athletes, businessmen, and organized crime is not an isolated incident, but part of a new ‘economic underworld’, where illegality hides behind a smartphone screen.

The Gambino family – from the “Godfather” to the “Teflon Don”

The most famous of the crime families is the Gambino family, named after Carlo Gambino, a Sicilian gangster who arrived in New York in 1921. After working for several other criminal organizations, Gambino eventually became a founding member of one of the Five Families, originally known as the Vincent Mangano gang, which later took his own name.

He is said to have inspired the titular character in The Godfather and died in 1976.

One of the most famous mafia prosecutions in recent decades involved the Gambino family and its notorious leader John Gotti, known as the “Teflon Don.”

Gotti, who seized control of the family by murdering his predecessor, was convicted in 1992 on multiple charges, including racketeering and murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and died in 2002.

Later, in 2019, the prominent Gambino family boss Frank Cali was assassinated outside his Staten Island home — the first targeted killing of a New York mafia boss since Gotti ordered the murder of his own predecessor decades earlier.