"The National Basketball Association is now slime-identified with a crew of upstanders known as "Spook," "Peso," "Vez," "Sugar," "Black Tony," "Scruli," and "Doc," thanks to the strenuous efforts of FBI Director Kash Patel to generate a headline. "Current and Former National Basketball Association Players and Four Other Individuals Charged in Widespread Sports Betting and Money Laundering Conspiracy," Patel's press office blared last week."
"At a podium flanked by prosecutors as he announced arrests tied to the charges, Patel said, "The fraud is mind-boggling." But read the actual indictments-which tell a different, much thinner story-and you might begin to suspect that the nation's top cop was running a small con of his own. Patel got his headlines. A front-pager in The New York Times led with "N.B.A." in describing the arrests for " "Gambling Schemes," as did an article in The Washington Post,"
FBI publicity amplified alleged links between National Basketball Association figures and a widespread sports‑betting and money‑laundering conspiracy, using sensational language and dramatic headlines. Federal indictments charged more than 30 people in illicit gaming offenses, but only three charged individuals have identifiable ties to the NBA. Most evidence in the filings does not involve basketball games. Chauncey Billups was arrested on allegations of wire fraud and money laundering for acting as a celebrity front man in an allegedly crooked Las Vegas poker game in 2019; Billups was not employed by an NBA team at that time. Insider sports gambling remains a legitimate NBA problem.
Read at The Atlantic
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