A very serious Shaquille O’Neal addressed the NBA betting scandal that rocked the sports world on Thursday during “Inside the NBA” on ESPN, saying that he was “ashamed” that Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Heat guard Terry Rozier “put their families and their careers in jeopardy” by allegedly getting wrapped up in it all.
Billups and Rozier were among the 31 people charged in a pair of sweeping and “historic” federal gambling busts, one of which had links to the Mafia.
Former Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones was also arrested as a result of the years-long FBI investigation. He was one of three people named in the two indictments that cover both schemes.
A solemn-sounding O’Neal said during the program that he knew the NBAers involved in the scandal and that he himself had “homeboy gambled,” before explaining how the league would provide players with forums on “what and what not to do.”
Follow The Post’s live updates on the bombshell NBA, mafia gambling scandal
“All these guys knew what was at stake and I’m just ashamed that they put themselves and their family and the NBA in this position,” O’Neal said. “We all know the rules, we all know the letter of the law and it’s just unfortunate. Innocent until proven guilty, but usually when the FBI has something, they have you. … They’ll wait two, three, four, five years, but when they come knocking on your door, they have something.
“We all know the letter of the law when it comes to gambling and sports gambling.”
The NBA has already taken swift action by putting both Billups and Rozier on “immediate leave” as it looks into the indictments that were unsealed by the feds on Thursday.
The FBI has arrested 31 people involved in a rigged poker game ring backed by the New York City organized crime families.
- Ernest Aiello — reputed Bonanno mobster
- Nelson “Spanish G” Alvarez
- Louis “Lou Ap” Apicella
- Ammar “Flapper Poker” Awawdeh
- Saul Becher — professional poker player
- Chauncey Billups — Portland Trail Blazers coach, NBA Hall of Famer and 2004 NBA champion
- Matthew “The Wrestler” Daddino
- Eric “Spooky” Earnest
- Lee Fama — professional poker player
- John Gallo
- Marco Garzon
- Thomas “Tommy Juice” Gelardo — reputed Lucchese mobster charged in 2013 for beating porn star girlfriend
- Jamie Gilet
- Tony “Black Tony” Goodson
- Kenny Han
- Shane “Sugar” Henne
- Osman “Albanian Bruce” Hoti
- Horatio Hu
- Zhen “Scruli” Hu
- Damon “Dee Jones” Jones — NBA player from 1998 to 2009
- Joseph Lanni
- John “John South” Mazzola
- Curtis Meeks
- Nicholas Minucci
- Michael Renzulli
- Anthony Ruggiero Jr.
- Anthony “Doc” Shnayderman
- Robert “Black Rob” Stroud
- Seth Trustman
- Sophia “Pookie” Wei
- Julius Ziliani
Both Rozier and Billups appeared in federal court on Thursday and were later seen exiting.
Rozier was spotted leaving a Florida court in shorts and a black sweatshirt and hopped into a black SUV.
Billups walked out of Portland federal court as reporters and cameras followed his every move. He did not respond to any questions and got into an SUV. His attorney, Chris Heywood, provided a statement to ESPN on Thursday night.
“Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others,” Heywood wrote. “To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his hall-of-fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.
“Furthermore, Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to. Chauncey Billups has never backed down. He does not plan to do so now. He will fight these allegations with the same tenacity that marked his 28-year career. We look forward to our day in court.”
O’Neal reiterated that the NBAers arrested have now potentially “put their careers in jeopardy.”
“I’m ashamed that those guys put their families and their careers in jeopardy,” he reiterated. “There’s an old saying in the hood, ‘All money ain’t good money.’ If you’re making $9 million and you’re doing a certain thing, how much more do you need? Especially if you know you get caught you could do jail time, lose your career, put a bad image on yourself or your family or the NBA. They dropped the ball.”
