Rumors

Jeffrey Epstein and Sixers co-owner Josh Harris had an ongoing business relationship that included numerous phone calls and at least one visit to Epstein’s home in Manhattan, according to emails released Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice. The emails do not contain any indication that Harris was involved with sexual misconduct.

inquirer.com

As federal prosecutors continue to investigate possible illegal sports gambling on NBA games, they are looking into additional games beyond the seven contests named in a Department of Justice indictment this fall.

New York Times

An Indianapolis man has been sentenced after flashing a machine gun in a crowded downtown area amid the 2025 NBA Finals. A'Jon Hall, 20, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to illegal possession of a machine gun, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

13 WTHR Indianapolis

There were other teams mentioned in the federal charges for illegal betting activity around their games, including the Orlando Magic. According to the government, a “regularly starting player” for the Magic told a gambler that the team planned to “tank,” or sit its starters, in an April 2023 game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The gambler allegedly sold the information to other known bettors to place bets against the Magic. The Magic have not been contacted by the Department of Justice, a league source said, but the unnamed Orlando player named in the indictment is no longer on the team. The Magic’s statement, released when those sweeping charges were filed in October, said the player mentioned was believed to be out of the organization, and the NBA approved the team’s statement prior to its release, league sources said.

New York Times

The NBA has asked multiple teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, to hand over documents and other property as part of its investigation into illegal sports gambling, six league sources told The Athletic. The league, under scrutiny from Congress, is seeking new information based on the federal charges brought last month by the Department of Justice.

New York Times

Pablo Torre: 🚨 UPDATE: A number of former pro athletes played at private poker games organized by those indicted by the DOJ in “Operation Royal Flush.” One of them — according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of a game that took place in 2019 — was Kevin Garnett. @pablofindsout

Twitter

Mike Vorkunov: NBA tanking comes up in DOJ's indictment. Information on who wouldn't play in a March 24, 2023 Blazers game (when they were tanking) and that all Magic starters wouldn't play in April 6, 2023 game — which came from a Magic player with a relationship to a defendant — was bet on

Twitter

Before the Feb. 9, 2023 Lakers game against the Bucks, Jones texted an unnamed co-conspirator that a player was out and they should bet the Bucks. The player was not on the injury report yet. He also gave information on the 2023-24 Lakers, including Player 4, who the DOJ said was one of the Lakers’ best players that season.

New York Times

Mike Vorkunov: NBA tanking comes up in the DOJ's indictment. Information on who wouldn't play in a March 24, 2023 Blazers game and that all Magic starters wouldn't play in April 6, 2023 game — which came from a Magic player with a relationship to a defendant — were used to bet on.

bsky.app

Matt Ford: A DOJ official at the EDNY betting/gambling presser just said there are 31 people in custody.

bsky.app

Matt Ford: In the rigged poker games, DOJ says the alleged orchestrators had “x-ray tables” that could read the cards upside down.

bsky.app

Fairley and Shane Hennen bet about $100,000 on that Blazers game, the DOJ alleges.

New York Times

The DOJ alleges that Terry Rozier told a co-defendant, Deniro Laster, that he was going to take himself out during the first quarter of a March 23, 2023 Hornets game with an injury so that Laster could bet on it. Laster shared that information and was paid $100,000 for it by Marves Fairley, according to the indictment. That information was then shared with others, who bet on it, prosecutors said. Another defendent, Shane Hennen, bet $61,200 on prop bets on Rozier's unders, and then ordered a syndicate of associates to bet, too, the indictment said.

New York Times

Pablo Torre: Sources tell @pablofindsout Malik Beasley’s fate also hinges on DOJ announcement. And that MB was previously investigated and cleared by the NBA for “making a bet or two on another sport.” Source: “The NBA is under strict confidentiality but you can’t control the government”

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