00:00Major, major scandal as the FBI in the Eastern District of New York have an announcement that
00:06a multi-year investigation has led to the arrest of more than a dozen people nationwide,
00:12but for our purposes in the sports world, an NBA gambling scandal that involves Terry Rozier,
00:19an NBA player who's currently playing for the Miami Heat. Prior to that, the Charlotte Hornets,
00:24a guy that's made over $100 million in his NBA career, Damon Jones, another former player who's
00:30on a number of different coaching staffs over the last number of years, and a Hall of Famer
00:35in Chauncey Bilbs, who has been the head coach of the Portland Trailblazers. Those three guys and
00:41a lot of other mob-related people apparently were arrested coast-to-coast today at about 6 o'clock
00:47in the morning, and we now have not the first and certainly not the last gambling scandal
00:52here in professional sports. Obviously, my background, for those of you who don't know
00:57it, I'm a compulsive gambler. I, very much like Terry Rozier and Chauncey Bilbs, dealt
01:03with the FBI knocking on my door. For me, it was 4 o'clock in the morning, not 6 o'clock
01:07in the morning, and I've dedicated my life since that day to try to educate people, encourage
01:13people to learn more about gambling addiction and how to be a voice of not just reason, but
01:18help as these leagues are now fully in bed with gambling sites. To that point, the NBA
01:24brought me in a few months ago to speak at their rookie symposium to tell my story, my
01:30gambling story, and what it cost me in life, and the dangers of going down the slippery slope
01:35of gambling to every single rookie in the league. So I know firsthand that the NBA is aware of
01:42the potential of the problem, is concerned about that potential, and spends their good,
01:47hard-earned money on trying to educate players in the league about the dangers of gambling.
01:52So I just want to give you that as a background, okay? I did it. I don't get paid to do it.
01:57The NBA asked me to come do it, and I did it along with Randy Livingston, former NBA player,
02:03former, you know, player of the year in high school and into college many, many years ago,
02:08who also has a gambling problem, and he and I spoke to every single rookie in the NBA.
02:13So here's the deal. You know, when you get in bed with gambling sites, when the country,
02:2038 states in the country, have legalized the wagering on professional sports, this is bound
02:26to happen. There are players that are actively playing in every single league right now that
02:32are gambling on their own team, on their own sport, on the opposition, you name it. So do not think
02:39for a minute that this is unique just to the NBA. There are baseball players gambling. We just had
02:44the Otani scandal with the interpreter. I still don't think we've gotten the real story on that,
02:50even though we spent an hour with the bookie that took all the wages here exclusively on the show a
02:54few months back. He's now in prison for a year and a day. The interpreter's in prison for five and a
02:59half years. If found guilty, Terry Rozier is going to go to prison. If found guilty, Chauncey Billups
03:05is going to go to prison. If found guilty, Damon Jones is going to go to prison.
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