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The alleged connection between the Mafia and two former NBA players -- Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and longtime veteran Damon Jones -- began the way such things often do: through a little-known intermediary. That's one of the ways organized crime finds its way into locker rooms and athletes' inner circles -- by degrees, through introductions that seem harmless enough. What starts as a friendly poker night or an invitation from a trusted acquaintance can, before long, become something else entirely -- a sticky web of influence and, soon enough, obligation, former prosecutors and those who study the Mob say....

The NBA scoreboard has turned into a stock ticker. Crowd chants, but half of them are watching their parlays instead of the play. Somewhere a coach calls timeout; somewhere else a bookmaker grins. This was always coming. The NBA invited gambling to the game when it signed lucrative sponsorship deals and paved the way for odds and offers to be splashed over our TV screens during games. So when the FBI finally showed up on Thursday, they were simply collecting the rent.Portland head coach Chauncey Billups, whose playing career ended with his induction in the hall of fame, and Miami...

The son of a legendary mafia capo, a newbie made man and a mobster who did time for an infamous Queens racial attack were among the 13 reputed mobsters busted alongside NBA stars in a sweeping historic gambling bust, according to a new federal indictment. Among the most prominent of the gangsters who were dealt into the high-stakes scams is Angelo Ruggiero Jr, the son of the late Gambino captain Angelo “Quack Quack” Ruggiero Sr. Ruggiero Jr’s father was close friends with notorious Gambino boss John Gotti, who helped plan the murder of Gambino leader Paul Castellano in 1985. When...

FBI Director Kash Patel called out sports commentator Stephen A. Smith on Thursday after the pundit suggested the arrests in connection with the NBA sports betting scandal were revenge for perceived anti-President Trump activism. Speaking with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, Patel called Smith’s claim “the single dumbest thing that I have ever heard out of anyone in modern history, and I lived most of my time in Washington D.C.” “It’s right up there with Adam Schiff,” Patel said, referring to the Democratic senator from California. “We arrest people for crimes.” After the news of the arrests broke, Smith in an...

The FBI has arrested Chauncey Billups, NBA champion, Hall of Famer, and coach of the Portland Trail Blazers for his association in a rigged poker game operated by some of New York City’s most notorious crime family. “Why would Chauncey do it?” the world of sports is asking. He’s already worth tens of millions of dollars. That’s a question for Billups, his attorneys, his God, and, presumably, Blazers ownership to answer. But as someone who regularly plays a lot of low and micro-stakes poker, I have a pretty good idea. The games I play in are monitored by security cameras,...

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has been charged in an alleged illegal poker scheme tied to organized crime, sources told the Post. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged as well, in a separate but related illegal gambling case, ABC reported. Prosecutors and FBI Director Kash Patel are announcing further details about the alleged schemes at a press conference in Brooklyn on Thursday morning. LA Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers involved in sports-rigging scheme: US attorney By Patrick Reilly Four NBA teams have been named as having games involved in the FBI's sweeping investigation into...

NBCSN is officially back. NBCUniversal is officially launching a new version of NBC Sports Network — better known as NBCSN — at some point this fall. The news was disclosed as part of an announcement of a new carriage deal between NBCU and Google-owned YouTube TV. News of a potential relaunch of NBCSN was first broken in July by Joe Flint of The Wall Street Journal, who reported that the new NBCSN would air events that are exclusively streamed on Peacock. Per the July report, the plan is for NBCSN to be available on specialty tiers, allowing it to complement...

Had the New York Knicks offered their head coaching job to South Carolina women's coach Dawn Staley, who had a formal interview for the position, she said she would have taken it. "I would have had to do it. Not just for me. For women. To break [that door] open," Staley said on the "Post Moves" podcast with WNBA star Aliyah Boston and former WNBA great Candace Parker. "I would have had to. It's the New York Knicks. I'm from Philly. But it's the freaking New York Knicks." The Knicks instead hired Mike Brown in early July to fill their...

MIAMI (Reuters) - Seven people arrested in Miami planned attacks on the landmark Sears Tower in Chicago and other buildings as part of a pledge to al Qaeda to wage war against the United States, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday. An indictment handed down against the men by a grand jury in south Florida said they sought to gain support from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda in order to destroy FBI buildings in the United States. At least one of them also plotted to blow up the 110-story Sears Tower in Chicago, it said. The men, named as Narseal Batiste,...

Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield was not entertained when he visited the Colosseum in Rome. Hield was at an NBA Summer League game to watch the young players on the Warriors’ roster take on the Utah Jazz on Sunday night. The Warriors won the game 103-93, but it was Hield’s comments on his trip to Italy that caught the attention of the internet. "I was a little disappointed when I went to the Colosseum because I watched ‘Gladiator’ and I thought Maximus was a real warrior," he explained on the ESPN broadcast. "So, I’m going into the Colosseum screaming,...

A controversial reality star and influencer has raised eyebrows after seemingly backflipping on her muslim faith, less than one year after converting to Islam. The 33-year-old, who stars on VH1's Basketball Wives, converted last August and completely transformed her image in the process. The former Instagram model ditched her signature scantily-clad ensembles for conservative muslim garb, including a hijab and oversized clothing that hid her Insta-famous curves. At one point, she even covered up her entire face except for her eyes. But last month, she suddenly started dressing provocatively again, leading longtime fans to suspect that she'd ditched her Muslim...

Last April, the NBA issued its first lifetime ban for gambling in 70 years to Jontay Porter after finding that “Porter disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor. Another individual with whom Porter associated and knew to be an NBA bettor subsequently placed an $80,000 parlay proposition bet with an online sports book, to win $1.1 million, wagering that Porter would underperform in the March 20 game.” Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that a 2023 game played by then-Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier was under federal...

The Oklahoma City Thunder have won the NBA Finals, capping a thrilling seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers with a dominant 103-91 victory. It is the Thunder's first NBA championship since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. And the Thunder are the seventh different NBA team to win a title in the past seven years, a remarkable run of parity for the league. "It doesn't feel real. So many hours, so many moments, so many emotions, so many nights of disbelief, so many nights of belief," the Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named Finals MVP, said in a...

The WNBA continues to deny OutKick a credential to cover Atlanta Dream games. The team and league claim they can't accommodate our requests due to "very limited space." We appreciate the emphasis on "very." Still, no one actually believes the WNBA can't find the "space" for us to cover a regular-season game involving the Dream and Connecticut Sun. WNBA games in June are hardly the Super Bowl, where reporters from all across the country clamor for access. In fact, the Sun granted several media credentials to OutKick last year, including a playoff game featuring the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark....

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah pharmacist is upset the man who admitted to breaking into his pharmacy has been let off the hook. On May 28, President Donald Trump pardoned 25-year-old rapper NBA YoungBoy, who had been sentenced to nearly two years in jail in Utah back in December 2024. The President didn’t explain why he pardoned the rap star. NBA YoungBoy’s record includes drug fraud and weapons charges, both federally and at the state level. “My very first gut reaction to hearing that pardon was what a terrible lesson to teach your boys,” Phil Cowley, a Utah pharmacist,...

Shawn Kemp, who spent the majority of his NBA career with the Seattle SuperSonics, entered a guilty plea in the 2023 shooting outside the Tacoma Mall in Washington state. The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office confirmed that Kemp admitted to second-degree assault in the incident. The six-time NBA All-Star initially faced charges for first-degree assault with a firearm. Prosecutors later tacked on a second count of first-degree assault and a charge of drive-by shooting. If he had been convicted on the original charges, the 55-year-old could have been up against a considerably longer prison sentence. Tacoma police received a call...

Former NBA guard Craig Hodges, regarded as one of the league’s premier three-point shooters before Steph Curry, painfully understands his career is defined more by a letter he wrote than his ability to knock down shots. As a star reserve with the Chicago Bulls, Hodges joined his teammates in 1991 for a visit to the White House to celebrate the Bulls’ first NBA Championship with President George H.W. Bush. Hodges, an outspoken advocate for social justice and civil rights during his 10-year NBA career, viewed the trip as an opportunity. Near the end of the celebration, Hodges, dressed in a...

In a highly physical Game 4 between the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons, in which seemingly so many contact-filled plays weren't resulting in fouls, officials acknowledged after the fact that one huge one was missed on the final play. With the Knicks leading by one, Detroit's Tim Hardaway Jr. drew contact from New York's Josh Hart as Hardaway went up for the potential winning shot with 0.3 seconds remaining. The 3-point attempt misfired, and the sold-out crowd awaited a foul call. It never came, incensing the Pistons bench and fans. The Knicks, meanwhile, escaped with a 94-93 victory...

‘Kids Don’t Need To Be Drinking These’ – Kawhi Leonard Takes a Dig at Popular Drink Brand April 25, 2025 | 7:51 PM EDT The Los Angeles Clippers took care of business with a 117-84 win in Intuit Dome’s first-ever playoff game. Kawhi Leonard posted a double-double, notching 21 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists in the Clippers 34-point rout over the Denver Nuggets. During Kawhi’s postgame press conference, he seemed to take a subtle jab at an iconic sports drink. Kawhi Leonard Takes a Shot at Gatorade, an NBA Sponsor Gatorade has made a name for itself in the...

Jackson says the NBA puts business ahead of sacred Christian holidays.The NBA had a four-game payoff slate for Sunday, April 20, 2025, beginning with the league-best-seeded OKC Thunder hosting the Play-In Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference. It was followed by the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, opening their title defense against the Orlando Magic, and the East's top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers taking on the Miami Heat. In the nightcap, NBA fans were treated to a showdown between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors in the West. But while a loaded Sunday slate like that is basketball heaven for NBA...