NBA coach and player arrested after illegal sports gambling ring uncovered by FBI

This just in, authorities announced today that Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat Terry Rozier have been arrested on charges related to illegal sports betting and rigged casino games backed by the Italian Mafia.

Billups and Rozier are among individuals that have been arrested, FBI director Kash Patel confirmed to media today. Patel and other law enforcement officials said the multiple charges involve four Mafia families and organized crime networks and "mind-boggling" amounts of fraud.

In particular Rozier is accused of participating in illegal sports betting by using private insider information. Rozier did not play in the Heat's season opener yesterday evening.

According to the indictment, Rozier "had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches" that was likely to affect the outcome of games or players' performances and provided that information to other coconspirators in exchange for either a flat fee or a share of betting profits.

Former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones was also arrested on the same charges.

Billups has been charged in a separate indictment alleging his involvement in a scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by the Mafia.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver, appearing on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday, said the league has been working with its sportsbook partners to combat attempts at manipulation.

"We've asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets, especially when they're on two-way players, guys who don't have the same stake in the competition, where it's too easy to manipulate something, which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score," Silver said. "We're trying to put in place -- learning as we go and working with the betting companies -- some additional control to prevent some of that manipulation."

*Quotes taken from The Associated Press and ESPN for this article.