The mobster accused of recruiting Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups into a sprawling NBA gambling and poker conspiracy has been identified as Robert L. Stroud, a 67-year-old Louisville man with a long criminal record, according to an ESPN report and court documents obtained by Heavy Sports.
Stroud, known by the nickname “Black Rob,” is accused of using his underground gambling network to recruit former NBA players — including Billups and his longtime friend Damon Jones — into a high-stakes poker ring that federal prosecutors say combined insider NBA access with organized crime.
“In 1994, Stroud killed a man during an evening playing cards and gambling at a home in Louisville,” WAVE News reported, cited by ESPN. When he was stopped by police in 2001, officers discovered “sports betting cards, dice, playing cards, and what appeared to be gambling records” in his vehicle.
Federal prosecutors say Stroud paid ex-players to serve as “face cards,” leveraging their fame to lure wealthy victims into poker games secretly rigged with concealed cheating technology.
Stroud’s Connection to Billups and Jones Runs Deep
According to a detention memo filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Stroud “recruited former professional athletes, including defendant Chauncey Billups,” into the operation that ran between 2019 and 2025.
Prosecutors allege Stroud supplied rigged card shufflers, X-ray-enabled poker tables, and marked decks used to fix games across multiple states, generating tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits.
Court filings also referenced a 2023 text message exchange in which Jones asked Stroud for a $10,000 advance before one of the poker nights. “I don’t know how much the job pays tomorrow but can I get a 10k advance on it??” Jones wrote, per documents cited by ESPN.
Billups and Jones’ friendship goes back decades. The two were close and part of a tight-knit group that included former coach Tyronn Lue, who, according to The Athletic, helped persuade Billups to transition into coaching during the pandemic.
Billups Arrested in Oregon, Placed on Leave
NBAPortland Trailblazers head coach Chauncey Billups exits the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse after his arraignment on October 23, 2025 in Portland, Oregon.
Billups, who became Portland’s head coach in 2021, was named in a federal indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. The filing states that in or around April 2019, Billups allegedly participated as part of the cheating team that organized and played in a rigged high-stakes poker game in Las Vegas.
Federal agents arrested Billups in Oregon last week on wire-fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges connected to the broader NBA gambling ring. Prosecutors allege he lent his name, image, and presence to exclusive poker events designed to attract wealthy participants who were unaware the games were being manipulated through concealed cheating technology.
Billups was released on bond shortly after his arrest and placed on administrative leave by the Trail Blazers, who described the situation as “deeply concerning.” The NBA also confirmed that both Billups and Terry Rozier have been suspended from all team activities pending the outcome of the federal investigation.
“We take these allegations very seriously,” the league said in a statement. “The integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
Blazers Rally on Court Amid Scandal
Despite the turmoil, the Trail Blazers have gone 2–1 since Billups’ arrest, with assistant coach-turned-interim Tiaggo Splitter leading the team in his absence. Portland players were shocked, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, and that Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin asked the players not to communicate with Billups while the case is ongoing.
In Portland, what began as an uplifting coaching story has now become the epicenter of an NBA scandal — one that may reshape the careers of both Billups and the close friend who helped him get there.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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