Charles Barkley, Shaq weigh in on the NBA gambling

Shaquille O’Neal said he’s “ashamed” of the people concerned in the gambling scandal that rocked the NBA on Thursday.

Charles Barkley called two of the people concerned in the matter “stupid.”

Kenny Smith said the scenario is “super unfortunate.”

One day after the “Inside the NBA” crew made its ESPN debut, the three analysts, as nicely as host Ernie Johnson, had a large story to talk about that had little to do with the precise sport of basketball.

On Thursday morning, federal prosecutors unsealed two indictments that outlined separate schemes to rig sports activities bets and poker video games. More than 30 people had been arrested, including former Clippers participant and current Portland head coach Chauncey Billups, who was charged with taking part in a conspiracy to repair high-stakes card video games run by Mafia households.

Also arrested had been Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who is accused of being half of a scheme to present personal insider NBA info to help others revenue from online bets, and retired participant Damon Jones, who has been charged with collaborating in both schemes.

“All these guys knew what was at stake, and I’m just ashamed that they put themselves and put their family and put the NBA in this position,” O’Neal said during Thursday’s broadcast. “We all know the rules. We all know the letter of the law. And it’s just unfortunate — you know, innocent till proven guilty, but usually when the FBI has something, they have you.”

He added: “I know Chauncey. I know Damon very well, played with Damon. … I’m ashamed that those guys will put their families and their careers in jeopardy. There’s an old saying in the hood, all money ain’t good money. So if you’re making $9 million, like, how much more do you need? Especially if you know you get caught, you can do jail time, lose your career, put a bad image on yourself or your family or on the NBA.”

Smith identified that “gambling is an addiction which could make you make illogical decisions,” but Barkley interjected his opinion that dependancy had nothing to do with the determination Jones and Rozier made to help others make fraudulent bets.

“This ain’t got nothing to do with addiction. These dudes are stupid,” Barkley said. “Why are they stupid? You under no circumstances can you fix basketball games. Under no circumstances. … Like, Rozier makes $26 million. Him betting, giving people information or taking himself out of games — how much is he going to benefit taking himself out the game to get unders?”

Barkley added: “You can’t fix ball games. Like I said, this is separate from Chauncey, but the notion that guys are making all this money and giving information — come on, man, stop that. That got nothing to do with addiction. That’s just total stupidity on these two dudes parts.”

Billups — a five-time All-Star who was the 2004 NBA Finals MVP as a member of the Detroit Pistons and is in his fifth season as Portland’s coach — and 10-year NBA veteran Rozier had been positioned on rapid go away, the league announced Thursday.

Billups’ attorney issued a assertion Thursday night time strongly denying the allegations against his shopper.

“Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity,” attorney Chris Heywood said. “Men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others.”

Rozier’s attorney said in a assertion Thursday that his shopper will battle the allegations.

“Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight,” Jim Trusty said, “and he looks forward to winning this fight.”

Jones performed three seasons with LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008 and was an assistant coach during the Lakers star‘s second stint in Cleveland. In one of the indictments, prosecutors allege Jones was an unofficial coach with the Lakers from 2022 to 2023 when he used inside info for sports activities betting.