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Last Updated:October 25, 2025, 12:42 IST
Garnett was allegedly present at a 2019 poker game linked to DOJ’s Operation Royal Flush, joining Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones in the NBA’s gambling scandal.
Boston Celtics legend Kevin Garnett (AFP)
The NBA’s growing gambling scandal just took an Uncut Gems-level turn, literally.
According to multiple reports, including The Athletic and ESPN’s Pablo Torre, 15-time All-Star Kevin Garnett was allegedly present at a private 2019 poker game now tied to the DOJ’s Operation Royal Flush: the same sweeping federal investigation that’s already seen Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones charged.
🚨 UPDATE: A number of former pro athletes played at private poker games organized by those indicted by the DOJ in “Operation Royal Flush."One of them — according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of a game that took place in 2019 — was Kevin Garnett. @pablofindsout https://t.co/9UEijIez8R
— Pablo Torre 👀 (@PabloTorre) October 24, 2025
Life Imitates Art (Uncomfortably Well)
In the 2019 thriller Uncut Gems, Garnett played a fictionalized version of himself, one who pawns his 2008 championship ring to place a risky bet.
Fast-forward to 2025, and that plot suddenly feels a little too close for comfort.
Operation Royal Flush: The NBA’s “Insider Trading" Scandal
Federal prosecutors have dubbed the investigation Operation Royal Flush: a multiyear sting targeting illegal betting and rigged poker games allegedly tied to organized crime families. Over 30 people have been arrested so far.
The DOJ claims poker games known as the “Washington Place Game" and the “Lexington Avenue Game" were central to the operation. Games reportedly used tampered shuffling machines with hidden scanners feeding card data to off-site operators.
The Athletic reports that Damon Jones, once a close LeBron James associate, sold non-public info about player injuries to bettors. Meanwhile, Billups allegedly lent his star power to lure high-rollers into the poker games — even receiving a cut of the profits.
NBA Fallout
Billups and Rozier have been placed on leave and released on bond. Garnett’s camp hasn’t issued a statement yet, but fans are demanding answers.
What started as whispers of “NBA guys gambling on the side" has now exploded into one of the league’s most bizarre scandals: one that even Uncut Gems couldn’t script better.
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...Read More
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...
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First Published:
October 25, 2025, 12:42 IST
News sports Kevin Garnett Implicated in DOJ’s NBA Gambling Operation Royal Flush
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