Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas made jokes following the FBI arrests of Trailblazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Heat guard Terry Rozier on Thursday morning as part of a yearslong investigation into illegal sports gambling and illegal poker games.
And those jokes led to a fight with ‘dirty’ ex-ESPNer Rachel Nichols.
During the Thursday episode of the “Gil’s Arena” show, Arenas, wearing a No. 24 Huskies jersey, danced on set carrying a brown paper bag labeled “Informant Lunch.”
Arenas was indicted on July 30 on three federal charges in connection with a federal indictment alleging he hosted illegal high-stakes poker games at his mansion in Encino, California.
When asked by his co-hosts, Arenas said, “Informant? No, no, no, this is lunch… This is my lunch, man. I couldn’t eat it there, man. I talked too much.”
“I got that Informant Lunch special this morning 🕵️♂️,” Arenas, 43, wrote on Instagram, adding the hashtag “Agent Zero” in reference to his nickname.
Arenas made it clear that he had no involvement whatsoever in the FBI’s investigation into the cases involving Billups, Rozier and Damon Jones.
“Two of them gamble on NBA, one throws poker games and robs his friends – it has nothing to do with me,” Arenas said.
After Arenas’ arrest, he became joked on a livestream that he was “snitch” before retracting his comments and saying he had “nothing to do with it.”
Following news of Thursday’s NBA gambling investigation — which included the arrest of former NBA player and ex-Cavaliers assistant Damon Jones — a video surfaced of Arenas celebrating his release from a Los Angeles jail following his arrest in July for a separate gambling investigation.
Arenas was released on $50,000 bail after pleading not guilty.
Arenas was charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, one count of operating an illegal gambling business and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
Former ESPN anchor Rachel Nichols, who currently serves as an analyst for Fox Sports 1, was among those who reshared the video Thursday. It appears she has since deleted it.
Arenas saw it and called Nichols “wrong” for reposting the video and suggesting he “possibly” snitched on Billups, Rozier and Jones.
“I’m good for all the trolling,” Arenas said Thursday. “That’s cool, but Rachel Nichols is mean. She used my video and she even wrote that I may have clicked.”
Arenas also joked that he wouldn’t go near the mafia, a nod to the FBI’s case against Billups — who is said to be the face of rigged poker games allegedly backed by the mafia and which scammed victims out of $7 million.
“I watch enough movies to know that the last group you want to betray is the Mafia,” Arenas said. “I watch ‘Dateline.’ They still haven’t found any people since 1947. I love my YouTube career.
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Nichols also re-shared photos of Arenas with his “Informant Lunch” bag.
“Well you can’t say Gilbert Arenas doesn’t have a sense of humor,” she wrote, adding a crying and laughing emoji.
The FBI has arrested 31 people involved in a rigged poker gaming ring backed by New York City’s organized crime families.
- Ernest Aiello – reputed Bonanno gangster
- Nelson “Spanish G” Alvarez
- Louis “Lou Ap” Apicella
- Ammar “Flapper Poker” Awawdeh
- Saul Becher – professional poker player
- Chauncey Billups – Portland Trail Blazers coach, NBA Hall of Famer and 2004 NBA Champion
- Matthew “The Wrestler” Daddino
- Eric ‘Spooky’ Serious
- Lee Fama – professional poker player
- Johannes Gallo
- Marco Garzon
- Thomas “Tommy Juice” Gelardo – reputed Lucchese gangster charged in 2013 for beating a porn star girlfriend
- Jamie Gilet
- Tony ‘Black Tony’ Goodson
- Kenny Han
- Shane “Sugar” Hair
- Osman “Albanian Bruce” Hoti
- Horatio Hu
- Zhen “Scruli” Hu
- Damon “Dee Jones” Jones – NBA player from 1998 to 2009
- Joseph Lanni
- John “John South” Mazzola
- Curtis Meeks
- Nicholas Minucci
- Michael Renzulli
- Anthony Ruggero Jr.
- Anthony “Doc” Shnayderman
- Robert ‘Black Rob’ Stroud
- Seth Trustman
- Sophia “Pookie” Wei
- Julius Ziliani
FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference Thursday that more than 30 people have been arrested in a yearlong investigation into illegal gambling and fraud in 11 states.
Follow The Post’s latest on the gambling scandal rocking the NBA:
Rozier is accused of fixing matches by briefing bettors on information before the match, particularly when he planned to withdraw himself from a March 2023 match with a foot injury.
He left the match with an injury and punters are said to have taken advantage of the information.
Jones is accused of selling information about Lakers players who wouldn’t be there to play, most notably LeBron James.
He was not employed by the Lakers at the time and was a private shooting coach for James.
Billups and Rozier were placed on immediate leave by the NBA.
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