BroBible
The NBA finds itself in turmoil just two days into the 2025-26 season after Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncy Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested in connection with an illegal gambling investigation by the NBA.
Both Billups and Rozier were deemed indefinitely ineligible by the NBA as the league awaits further findings from the FBI.
But the ongoing situation is just the latest in a long, illustrious line of scandals in American sports history. Which got us thinking, what other scandals would make that list?
For the purposes of the exercise, we’re focusing on scandals that directly impacted sporting events themselves. Meaning that OJ Simpson and Jerry Sandusky will not be included, nor will USA Gymnastics’ horrific sex abuse scandal.
But even without those options, the list of scandals is lengthy and runs back more than a century, across several different sports and sports leagues.
There were dozens and dozens of scandals in consideration, but there are the eight we narrowed in on that help define the history of American sports.
What better place to start than one of the first big scandals in American sports history?
In 1919, the Chicago White Sox made the World Series only to lose to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3, in the best-of-nine series.
Following the series, eight members of the White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the series in exchange for payment from a gambling syndicate, which was allegedly led Arnold Rothstein, the head of the Jewish mob in New York City.
In response, the National Baseball Commission was dissolved and Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed the first commissioner of baseball. The players were acquitted in court, but banned from baseball for life.
Nancy Kerrigan entered the 1994 U.S. National Figure Skating Championship as the reigning national champion and a threat for gold at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
However, prior to competing at U.S. Nationals, Kerrigan was shockingly taken out by an assailant who hit her in the knee with a baton following a practice session.
Shockingly, it later came to light that the assailant was hired by Jeff Gillooly, the ex-husband of fellow American figure skater and rival Tonya Harding. Harding went on to win gold at the event, but was later stripped after she admitted to helping cover up the assault. Harding, to this day, denies that she had a hand in planning the attack. But Gillooly insists she knew.
Kerrigan recovered to win a silver medal at the Olympics just one month later.
From one assault off the field of play, to several on it.
In 2009, whistleblower Mike Cerullo, a former New Orleans Saints defensive assistant, informed the NFL of an organized bounty program run by Saints defensive players and coaches.
A lengthy investigation by the league discovered that New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg...
