The History of Hoops Betting Scandals

There’s an old saying: Man makes plans—and God laughs.

Mere days after NBA media partners publicly proclaimed they wanted to provide more feel-good media coverage this season, The Association finds itself embroiled in its biggest betting scandal since crooked referee Tim Donaghy in 2007.

On Thursday, the FBI arrested Heat guard Terry Rozier, Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and former NBA player Damon Jones as part of a federal probe into illegal gambling.

All major league sports have had betting scandals, from baseball’s “Black Sox” throwing the 1919 World Series to the Reds to Calvin Ridley of the Falcons betting on games during the NFL’s 2021 season.

But pro and college basketball has a long and checkered history when it comes to point-shaving, game-fixing, and players conspiring with the Mafia and organized crime figures:

• In 2024, the NBA banned former Raptors player Jontay Porter for life. A league investigation found that Porter violated NBA rules by disclosing confidential information to known sports bettors. Porter was charged with a felony. His attorney claimed Porter got himself “in over his head due to a gambling addiction.”

• In 2007, the sports world was stunned when it was discovered Donaghy was feeding inside info to gamblers with mob ties to support his own gambling addiction. After pleading guilty to two charges, the longtime ref ended up serving two terms in prison.

• In 1985, Tulane was swept up in a point-shaving and cocaine scandal involving star John “Hot Rod” Williams and four other players. While Williams was acquitted, and went on to play in the NBA, the school closed its men’s basketball program for four years.

• In 1978, Lucchese family associates helped recruit multiple members of the Boston College Eagles to shave points. Three players were banned from the NBA.

• In 1951, the City College of New York men’s basketball team was a bigger draw than the Knicks of the fledgling NBA. But cops nailed multiple CCNY players for shaving points. Eventually, the scandal swept up 32 players at seven schools around the country. It would take college hoops years to recover from the shame.  

Many pro and college athletes have gambling addictions, investigative journalist and author Declan Hill tells Front Office Sports. Poker games, in particular, are a magnet for organized crime. With the old stigma gone from betting on sports, he expects the latest scandal to just be the tip of the iceberg.

“Gambling addiction among athletes, from high school all the way up to the highest level of pro sports, is just rife,” says Hill, the author of “The Insider’s Guide to Match-Fixing in Football.” 

In the case of Porter, the former Raptors player desperately pleaded with mobsters not to hurt him due gambling debts. 

As Hill says: “Jontay Porter lost most of the hundreds of thousands that he earned playing professional sports. He was so in debt, at the end, that he couldn’t pay his debts to these organized crime guys. They were going to come up—and beat him up.”