The ongoing gambling investigation has cracked open a side of the NBA, few ever imagined existed. It began with a string of over 30 arrests, the regular season had just started and suddenly, shocking names of Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier were in discussions. This has now snowballed into a full-scale federal investigation stretching back to as early as 2019. And now, as the dust continues to rise, more former players are coming forward with stories of their own.

Former seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson, who played in the NBA from 2001 to 2022, recently opened up about the wild side of gambling culture that was seemingly always present. Appearing on the Nightcap podcast, Johnson drew a vivid contrast. He has witnessed it all. Between the modest betting habits during his Atlanta days, to the staggering sums being tossed.

“When I was playing here in Atlanta, me, Josh Smith, Mike Bibby, uh Big Jason Collins, like we used to gamble oo and like when you get off the plane, if you won seven or $8,000, that was a pretty good day, right? You know what I mean?” he recalled. He was painting a picture of friendly, competitive flights among teammates who knew how to keep it light.

But according to Johnson, things escalated unexpectedly when he joined James Harden, Chris Paul, and PJ Tucker in the Houston Rockets camp. “Boy, when I got to Houston playing with James Harden and CP and PJ Tucker, man, they getting off the plane owing each other $140,000,” Johnson revealed.

“I said, I ain’t playing with y’all. I just used to watch. I used to watch. I ain’t never used to play with him.” His was in disbelief with the extraordinary numbers that were at stake.

Johnson further shed light on the magnitude of these bets. “Yeah. 140,000, 170,000, 80,000,” he repeated the numbers. Then came the part that truly underscored the excess.

“Hey, I heard stories like guys, you had to come to the table with a 100, 150, 200,000 in cash just to sit at the table. And if you not gambling, you couldn’t sit in. You like, ‘Nah, bro. You got to go.’ Nah, I’m just here with such and such. That ain’t got nothing to do with me.”

His firsthand account from these circles offers a rare glimpse into the high-stakes subculture among NBA elites. And it also takes us back to the Harden-Paul dynamics.

Chris Paul and James Harden had a fallout but their time together was nothing short of iconic. The two joined forces in Houston (2017-2019), around the same time Joe Johnson was there.

The pairing brought the Rockets their best regular season in franchise history with 65 wins and a near-upset of the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 Western Conference Finals.

Media and players react to expanding NBA gambling scandal

The scope of the NBA gambling scandal continues to widen. And industry voices are taking notice. According to former All star Reggie Miller, the ongoing probe “heightens scrutiny” over the league’s ties to sportsbooks.

He also reflected back to his old days in the NBA, where they were just more careful, “you weren’t even almost allowed to say the word ‘bet.’ It was like a taboo.” He said.

In fact, it was impossible for him to comprehend the mindset behind betting one’s whole career away. “I’m wrapping my head around this because I just come back to the reason of *why*, why would someone jeopardize their career and their livelihoods for something like this?”

Even Shaquille O’Neal who does finds himself involved in occasional betting was in disbelief. “Every now and then, when I go to Vegas, I’ll play some craps and I’ll play some roulette, but I never gambled at anyone’s house. Don’t know anything about poker.”

He underscores the broader cultural risk: “All money ain’t good money… you could do jail time, lose your career, put a bad image on yourself, your family, or the NBA.”

The mounting fallout is pushing the league to take a precautionary look into its own rulebooks. Meanwhile Chauncey Billups have somehow managed to gain support within the NBA. Ty Lou was among the first ones to speak in favor of Billups, publicly.

“When you’ve known somebody so long, you can just tell by their voice— if he’s okay. Like I said, he’s confident in what’s going on. The toughest part just for him is just like his family going through with his daughters,” Lue said. “But other than that, he’s really confident about the situation. So just hearing his voice, I can just see that he’s okay. So that was good to hear.”

Lou was the one who hired Billups back in 2020 as his assistant coach for the Clippers. However he has been under fire too, since his alleged proximity with Billups links him with the gambling case.

Now we wait for the investigation to finally reveal the reality, in what is already being seen as a deep, dark web of corruption.