A finance professor speculates how NBA figures were caught in alleged gambling relationships

Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones They were arrested Thursday morning as part of an FBI investigation into allegations of illegal gambling with ties to the La Cosa Nostra crime families.

The claims come despite Billups and Rozier having made more than $100 million in career earnings each, while Jones has made about $20 million.

With that much money, it’s fair to wonder how NBA figures got involved in the scandal.

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“How do they get to a situation where they can do that? Their lifetime income was somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 million. For most people, you can’t spend $150 million in your lifetime,” Richard Sheehan, a professor of finance at Notre Dame, said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.

Billups is accused of making $50,000 playing in at least one poker game, while Rozier allegedly counted “tens of thousands” of dollars following his friend’s bets following Rozier’s early exit from the game.

Sheehan said the net worths of Billups and Rozier that he saw, which were far less than their professional earnings, did not make sense.

“Despite that, the numbers I saw in terms of their net worth were in the $35-$40 million range. Still, not bad at all, but I look at $150 million in income, subtract taxes, subtract expenses, whatever. And just as a finance professor, I look at that and say, ‘Their wealth should be double $35 or $40 million.’ Easy, it should be double that. It’s not,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan blamed the possibility of “property” relating to the athletes, which led to them being given the money.

“A lot of people in athletes’ bodies basically look at them as walking ATMs,” Sheehan said.

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He also speculated on the possibility of poor financial decisions from advisors and lawyers due to the large discrepancy between earnings and net worth.

“The other possibility is simply that they dealt with unsavory figures like the mafia, which they may not have been aware of at the time, and that led them into compromising situations where they felt they needed to do something,” Sheehan said, effectively repeating the poker scheme allegations.

But there is one last possibility: stupidity and greed.

“I have $40 million in the bank. But, you know, if I had $41 million, I’d feel a little better.’” If you can do that honestly, that’s one story. “If you need to cut back, it’s really stupid because your future income, in terms of sports, your future income goes to zero, and you could end up spending a fair amount of time in a prison cell,” Sheehan said.

Billups, Rozier and Jones, the latter charged in both cases, are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The NBA announced that Billups and Rozier have been placed on immediate leave from their teams, “and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities.”

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“The integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said.

Lawyers for both Billups and Rozier denied any wrongdoing.

A statement from attorney Chris Heywood said: “Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows that he is an honest man, and honest men do not cheat and defraud others.”

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