Chauncey Billups, an NBA Hall of Fame player and coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Terry Rozier, a Miami Heat guard, are among 34 people charged in connection with two federal gambling investigations that involved the league and organised crime.

The schemes - one that involved insider sports betting and another that rigged poker games nationwide - spanned years and involved tens of millions of dollars in illicit gains from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and gambling, FBI Director Kash Patel said at a press conference in Brooklyn on Thursday.

Rozier was one of several National Basketball Association insiders who provided non-public information to their criminal partners, who in turn used straw bettors to place multiple bets based on the tips, authorities said.

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