Sports playing in 2025: A glance again on the controversies this 12 months | USAEMALL.com

Over the years, as sports gambling has become more of a norm, lines have been crossed.

In 2023, several NFL players were suspended for multiple games for violating the league’s gambling policy. Later that year, Iowa and Iowa State athletes were punished. A year later, Shohei Ohtani found himself in controversy after millions of dollars under his name were paid for gambling debts. Ultimately, the FBI found it was his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, stealing his money to pay off his own losses.

That April, NBA player Jontay Porter was permanently banned from the NBA after withdrawing early from games to get out from under large gambling debts so he and his co-conspirators could win bets on his performance.

But this year, the FBI’s involvement grew as higher-profile athletes were accused of serious wrongdoing.

(Left) Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier III (2) controls the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. The action took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 5, 2025. (Center) Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) reacts in the ninth inning against the New York Yankees during Game 4 of the American League Championship Series for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. The game was played in Cleveland, Ohio, on Oct. 18, 2024. (Right) Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups takes a timeout during the first half against the Golden State Warriors at Moda Center. The game was played in Portland, Oregon, on April 11, 2025. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images;David Dermer/Imagn Images;Troy Wayrynen/Imagn Images)

Arguably the largest takedown was of three NBA figures tied to an investigation with La Cosa Nostra. Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones were all arrested in October and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Rozier was placed on leave and under investigation by the NBA in February, stemming from a game in 2023 in which he played less than 10 minutes for the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier is alleged to have told a childhood friend, Deniro Laster, that he would take himself out of a game early, citing an injury so Laster could place wagers based on the information. 

Neither Hornets officials nor betting companies were made aware of Rozier’s plan, according to the indictment, and Rozier was not listed on the team’s injury report. Laster allegedly sold that information to other co-conspirators, and numerous people placed wagers totaling roughly $200,000 on Rozier’s “under” prop bets to hit in both parlay and straight wagers. After Rozier played just nine minutes and never returned, the bets won. Rozier and Laster counted cash winnings at Rozier’s home in Charlotte roughly a week later, the indictment says.

Billups, the Portland Trail Blazers head coach, and Jones, a former player and coach, are alleged to have knowingly participated in rigged poker games. Billups and Jones were allegedly dubbed as “face cards,” which an indictment stated were “members of the Cheating Teams and received a portion of the criminal proceeds in exchange for their participation in the scheme.” The scheme resulted in victims losing at least $7.15 million, dating back to April 2019, according to the Department of Justice.

(Left) Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups talks to a referee during a timeout in the first half against the Sacramento Kings at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 10, 2025. (Right) Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier (2) walks off the court after the game against the Detroit Pistons at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on Nov. 12, 2024. (Jaime Valdez/Imagn Images;Rick Osentoski/Imagn Images)

Billups is not listed in the sports betting scandal that led to the arrest of Rozier. However, the DOJ mentioned a Trail Blazers–Chicago Bulls matchup on March 24, 2023, the day after Rozier’s alleged wrongdoings, in which a co-conspirator, “an NBA coach at the time” allegedly told a longtime friend, who is also a defendant in the rigged poker scheme, that the Blazers would be “tanking” that night for a better draft pick and would sit some of the team’s best players. The resting of the players had not yet been public information. The team’s top four scorers, including Damian Lillard, all did not play that night, as other co-conspirators allegedly wagered more than $100,000 total against Portland. The “co-conspirator” in question is listed as a former NBA player whose career spanned from “approximately 1997 through 2014” and “an NBA coach since at least 2021.” Only Billups fits that criterion.

Jones is alleged to have told someone close to him that a “prominent” player on the Lakers would not play on Feb. 9, 2023, before the information was public and told the person to make a “big bet” on their opponent. The DOJ says the player was eventually ruled out with a lower-body injury — ESPN has reported that the player in question is LeBron James, who was ruled out with an ankle injury. The game in question took place two days after James scored 38 points to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Jones also allegedly gave apparent inside information about another “one of the Lakers’ best players” 11 months later regarding an injury that was likely to affect his performance, which ultimately backfired as the player “performed well” and the Lakers won.

The three figures have all pleaded not guilty, while Rozier and Billups remain on administrative leave.

Weeks later, the FBI announced the arrests of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who were placed on leave by Major League Baseball over the summer.

Officials said in an indictment that, from May 2023 to June 2025, Clase agreed with one co-conspirator to “throw specific pitches in certain MLB games” so that the bettors they were allegedly partnered with “would profit from illegal wagers made based on that inside information.” Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme in June 2025.

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase during a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, in San Francisco, June 17, 2025.  (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, file)

SPORTS TEAMS THAT WERE CROWNED CHAMPIONS IN 2025

The indictment said Clase conferred with one bettor to throw a ball on the first pitch of an at-bat when he was brought into games in relief. The indictment pointed to instances in specific games, including May 19, 2023, vs. the New York Mets; June 2, 2023, vs. the Minnesota Twins; and June 7, 2023, vs. the Boston Red Sox.

Clase allegedly began to request and receive bribes and kickback payments for agreeing to throw the specific pitches in April, according to the indictment. In one instance, Clase allegedly used his phone in the middle of a game to coordinate with a bettor on a pitch he would throw. Bettors allegedly won $400,000 from betting platforms on pitches thrown by Clase between 2023 and 2025.

When Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme, the indictment said he agreed to throw balls over strikes on certain pitches in exchange for bribes or kickbacks. He allegedly agreed to throw a ball on June 15, against the Seattle Mariners for around $5,000 in his first pitch in the second inning. The indictment said Ortiz agreed to throw a ball on June 27, against the St. Louis Cardinals for $7,000 in his first pitch of the third inning.

The FBI also busted an illegal sports betting ring allegedly operated by Joseph M. “Little Joe” Perna, identified as a member of the Lucchese crime family, in New Jersey, in which two of the 14 arrested were former NCAA wrestlers. Both former wrestlers were charged with racketeering in the first degree, money laundering by promoting in the first degree, conspiracy in the second degree, promoting gambling by bookmaking in the third degree, and possession of gambling records in the third degree.

MLB aannounced in February that it had fired longtime umpire Pat Hoberg for sharing his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games and intentionally deleting electronic messages pertinent to the league’s investigation. The league opened up a probe into Hoberg last February after a sportsbook brought it to the attention of officials.

The league said that while the probe didn’t uncover evidence he personally bet on baseball or manipulated games, MLB senior vice president Michael Hill recommended on May 24 that Hoberg be fired. Hoberg didn’t umpire last season. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred upheld Hill’s decision.

MLB umpire Pat Hoberg looks on during a game between the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs on May 12, 2023 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

In September, three Division I college basketball players, Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez and Jalen Weaver, were permanently banned from the NCAA for allegedly betting on their own games. The NCAA declared the three players bet on each other’s games and/or provided information that enabled others to do so during the 2024-25 regular season and that two of them even manipulated their performances to ensure certain bets were won.

Thirty-nine states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico currently have some form of legalized sports gambling. So, it’s hard to imagine that we’ve seen anything but the tip of the iceberg.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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