The NBA had a huge year.
On the court, 2025 saw one of the craziest trades in league history in Luka Dončić from the Mavericks to the Lakers, only for Dallas to wind up with the No. 1 pick in the draft and select Cooper Flagg.
In the business realm, the league began its new 11-year, $77 billion media deal with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime, and three of its owners were awarded WNBA expansion teams.
And on the legal front, the NBA and its players were extremely busy. Multiple teams and players found themselves the subject of a range of lawsuits, while federal investigators indicted players and coaches for allegations of illegal sports betting and gambling.
Front Office Sports compiled a list of the biggest legal stories we covered about the NBA and its players in 2025.
Gambling Scandals
Sports Betting Indictment Targets Heat’s Rozier, Former Lakers Assistant Jones
After Jontay Porter’s case cracked open the NBA’s betting scandals last year, federal investigators kept pushing on suspicious NBA activity.
In October, prosecutors announced charges against Heat guard Terry Rozier and former player Damon Jones. The indictment accused Rozier of telling a friend he would prematurely take himself out of a game “for the purpose of enabling” the friend to make money off of that information, and Jones of sharing inside information about injuries before they appeared on scouting reports.
Jones was alleged to have shared injury information of unnamed players who match the description for Anthony Davis and LeBron James while he was an unofficial assistant for the Lakers. Rozier and Jones both have pleaded not guilty.
Former Pistons guard Malik Beasley has also been investigated but has not been charged with a crime. Beasley’s lawyer says his client is “stuck in investigative purgatory” while he is still under NBA investigation.
In response to the Porter scandal, the NBA eliminated prop bets for players on two-way and 10-day contracts. Earlier this month, the league put in new policies including moving up injury reporting timelines on game days. The NBA has also pushed for a number of other sports betting-related changes to limit the types and volume of bets.
Billups, Jones Indicted For Playing in Rigged Poker Games
At the same time it announced charges against Rozier and Jones, federal prosecutors dropped a bombshell indictment against more than 30 people including organized crime families, Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, and Jones for their involvement in an alleged illegal poker ring. Prosecutors said Billups and Jones acted as “face cards” to lure prospective players into cheated games that used technology like rigged shuffling machines, pre-marked cards, and secret cameras. Billups and Jones have pleaded not guilty.
Arenas Charged with Running Illegal Poker Operations
Federal investigators charged Gilbert Arenas and co-conspirators in July with running an illegal gambling business out of the three-time NBA All-Star’s California mansion. (Hosting a poker game is not illegal, but it’s against the law to charge a “rake,” or a fee from each pot, which investigators say the group did.) The indictment included a photo of a poker table covered in the words “Arenas Poker Club” with a photo of a player wearing his last name and No. 0 on a jersey. Arenas was charged with conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, operating an illegal gambling business, and making false statements to investigators. Arenas pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Team Drama
Pablo Torre Uncovers Ballmer, Leonard Deals with Aspiration
In early September, Pablo Torre Finds Out dropped its bombshell investigation into Aspiration and its relationship with the Clippers. The failed company received sizable investments from the Clippers and its owners while also sending millions of dollars to Kawhi Leonard, suggesting a potential workaround to the NBA salary cap. PTFO reported the NBA player had signed a $28 million “no-show job” with the company that employees believed was intended to circumvent the salary cap. Leonard, the Clippers, and team owner Steve Ballmer have denied wrongdoing, with Ballmer insisting that he was “conned” by Aspiration, which is now called Catona Climate. Aspiration investors added Ballmer’s name to their lawsuit against the company last month, and an NBA investigation is ongoing.
Phoenix Faces Six Workplace Lawsuits
Since November 2024, current and former employees and minority owners have filed five lawsuits against the Phoenix Suns, alleging harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, fraud, and breaches of contract and fiduciary duty, as well as racial, gender, and age discrimination. A former coach of the Phoenix Mercury, which shares ownership with the Suns, filed a suit against the WNBA team in July. Attorney Sheree Wright is representing the plaintiffs in five of the six cases; she is not involved in the case brought by the minority owners against owner Mat Ishbia, who took control of the team in 2023. The minority owners accused Ishbia in a court filing last month of using the team as his “personal piggy bank.” Ishbia countersued the two minority owners. The organization has denied all claims against it and maintains that Wright’s suits are “meritless.”
Knicks, Raptors Finally Drop Suit
The Knicks sued the Raptors in 2023, claiming a video assistant hired by Toronto stole confidential information on his way out the door. The suit alleged the employee stole thousands of scouting reports and other data, and the team used him “to serve as a mole within the Knicks organization to convey information that would assist the Raptors.” Last year, while the case was ongoing, the Knicks were the lone team that voted against a WNBA expansion team in Toronto, a franchise led by Raptors part-owner Larry Tanenbaum. In October, both sides agreed to dismiss the case.
RAJ Sports Sues Panda Express Family Over Trail Blazers Stake
In September, the minority owners of the Kings, RAJ Sports, sued the Cherng family for their involvement in Tom Dundon’s purchase of the Trail Blazers. The suit alleged the Cherngs had been part of RAJ’s bid for the Blazers before switching to Dundon’s bid, and sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the Cherngs, who founded Panda Express, from entering into any deal with the Blazers. The parties reached a deal outside of court facilitated by Dundon, and RAJ dropped the suit in October.
Player Lawsuits
Williamson Sued for Alleged Rape
A woman sued Zion Williamson in May claiming the Pelicans forward committed “sexual, physical, emotional, and financial” abuse against her during their relationship, which lasted from 2018 until 2023. Williamson’s lawyer denied the allegations and claimed the woman was trying to extort the NBA player. The case is still ongoing.
Harden’s Multiple Legal Issues
James Harden has faced a bevy of lawsuits in 2025. The Clippers guard came into the year with his Houston restaurant already the subject of a December 2024 wrongful death suit filed by the families of former college football players and one NFL player who were struck and killed by a drunk driver leaving Harden’s restaurant. By September, the restaurant had been shut down for unpaid rents and expenses of over $2 million, and the landlord sued Harden and his companies seeking $1 million in damages. Harden denied allegations in the case.
Also, in June, a woman sued Harden for negligence in a complaint claiming his nephew raped her and Harden’s security interfered with rescue attempts by her friends during a New Year’s Eve party at the NBA player’s mansion.
All three cases are still ongoing, and the restaurant remains closed.
Employee Theft
Ex-Heat Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing Team Merch
A former security guard for the Miami Heat and NBA pleaded guilty in August to stealing and selling team memorabilia, including game-worn jerseys. Prosecutors said Marcos Tomas Perez stole more than 400 items from the team and sold about 100 of them for more than $2 million.
Ex-Hawks Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing $3.8 Million from Team
In November, federal prosecutors accused Lester Jones, a former finance executive for the Hawks, of embezzling more than $3.8 million from the NBA team over the past several years through expense reimbursements and charges on company credit cards. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in December.
