Category: Sports – Professional

by Sarah Wolff ’28 on November 6, 2025

Insight From PC Professor Dr. Patrick Kelly

The world of professional basketball is currently facing one of its most serious scandals in years. Just a few weeks ago, Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, along with over 30 others, were arrested for being involved in a separate federal investigation into illegal sports betting. To gain a better understanding of the case’s implications, I spoke to someone with impressive knowledge of this topic. Dr. Patrick Kelly,  professor of accountancy and the Director of the Ethics in Business Education Program here at Providence College, has long studied issues of integrity in business and sports. He told me he was not surprised this happened, noting that the current structure of legalized sports betting in the U.S. is essentially setting itself up for abuse and cases like these.  

In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting, and since then, it has grown at an unbelievably rapid pace. In just seven years, 39 states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of sports betting. Kelly explained how troubling this is, considering that legalized casino gambling first began almost a century ago, in 1931, but then grew to 40 states in the last 40 years. For sports betting to grow so quickly in a significantly smaller amount of time is a huge concern. With inconsistent state regulations governing sports betting, it’s no secret that oversight just hasn’t kept up. Kelly made it clear that variable state-by-state regulation is not the right way to approach this, and it ultimately creates an uneven system that results in potential problems.  

Kelly also spoke about the rise of prop bets—bets on specific in-game events rather than the outcome. Bettors can place wagers on anything from who will score the first basket to who will or won’t be playing as well as certain statistics like number of points, rebounds, assists, or fouls. These bets have the potential to increase athletic engagement and revenue, but they also create opportunities for manipulation by sports bettors using insider information shared by a player who has control of what happens in the game. This type of betting lies at the heart of the recent charges against Rozier. Illegal “spot-fixing,” another term Kelly discussed, occurs when players manipulate a specific, small moment during games for betting purposes, which is another way that sports bettors might benefit from insider information. Such instances affect the integrity of the game, which is considered a fundamental principle in sports.  

However, Kelly emphasized that the real problem here that sets this scandal apart from others is the fact that it involves an active player and coach. This isn’t only about people who used to be in the NBA or have ties to it; this concerns two people currently involved in the league, one of whom was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame after a successful playing career. For background, Billups was arrested on federal charges of money laundering and wire fraud, having ties to an underground, mafia-backed poker ring that supposedly used his fame status to bring wealthy bettors into rigged games. The FBI claims that he, along with former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, helped with these games. Rozier, on the other hand, was arrested on federal charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud after allegedly giving up confidential information about his health and team information to bettors who placed large prop bets on him. The FBI found suspicious betting patterns based on games where Rozier left early, raising some questions about whether he may have purposely performed a certain way for money. The investigation into Rozier, Kelly notes, is a bit different as it has been ongoing for months. A few months before his arrest, the NBA reportedly conducted its own investigation into Rozier but did not penalize him. This obviously raised questions about the league’s ability to internally monitor its players and coaches.  

When concluding my interview with Kelly, he told me the main thing to remember is that these individuals are innocent until proven guilty. As of now, these are all allegations, and it is incredibly important to let the legal system operate accordingly. However, Kelly was very clear when he told me that “all of the sports leagues have to be very concerned with what just happened.”