A former mobster is warning that the current gambling scandal in the NBA, which has embroiled Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups, is truly just the beginning of deep corruption within the league.
Former Mobster Says Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups Scandal Is Only the Beginning
The 2025-2026 NBA season has gotten off to an explosive start, but not in the way it expected with the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups on allegations of illegal gambling.
One noted ex-mobster, Michael Franzese, is warning the league that this could be the beginning of the league’s problems.
Former Colombo Crime Family Member Michael Franzese on the MASSIVE NBA gambling scandal:
“It’s not normal that all four families would be working together – which shows me this is very widespread… this is the tip of the iceberg.”@dandakich @MichaelFranzese pic.twitter.com/2ppR9Sd9iO
— OutKick (@Outkick) October 27, 2025
In an interview with Dan Dakich for Outkick Sports, the former Colombo family member
was frank about the massive situation. “What surprised me is that four of the five families (Genovese, Lucchese, Gambino, and Bonanno) were involved,” he began before jokingly adding, “I felt like, I’m a Colombo guy and they weren’t mentioned so I felt like we were left out or we didn’t get involved.”
Franzese was a former caporegime, or captain, in the Colombo family after joining them in the late 1970s. Before walking away from the mob in 1994 after becoming a born-again Christian and renouncing the life, Franzese was allegedly involved in serious sports betting.
MORE: LeBron James’ Name Gets Dragged Into NBA’s Latest Gambling Scandal
In an appearance on HBO’s “Real Sports” in 2002, Franzese claimed to have convinced New York Yankees players to fix games in order to pay off debts to Colombo loansharks in the 1970s and 1980s.
“This is an illegal gambling and rigging operation that spanned the course of years. This fraud is historic in its scheme,” said FBI Director Kash Patel, who spoke of the wireless technology, such as X-ray tables and high-end glasses, reportedly employed in illegal poker games that Billups and former Cavaliers coach Damon Jones were involved in.
Franzese touched on that element of the allegations. “Gambling has been the main business of the mob ever since we started coming here in the 1800s,” Franzese stated. “They’re very sophisticated…guys that have the technology, we know them, they come to us. They’re not dummies, don’t sell them short.”
In another interview with Spanish sports outlet MARCA, Franzese (who has been an adviser to professional teams about gambling and athletes) was more blunt. “A lot of athletes get in trouble all the time with respect to gambling. Gambling is an extension of their competitiveness,” he said, adding, “Athletes are easy prey. They get themselves in trouble, owe a debt, and have to do whatever they can to resolve it.”
He did note to Dakich in their interview that the seriousness of the situation is predicated on one fact. “It’s not normal that all four families would be working together – which shows me this is very widespread,” Franzese said of the FBI’s investigation findings. “When you’ve got guys in different parts of the country involved in this…if this is on the level, this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
To date, the FBI has made 34 arrests in the overlapping investigations. In light of the scandal, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been requested to appear before a congressional committee on Friday, October 31, to explain the league’s relationship with sports betting.
