Gilbert Arenas insists he didn't snitch on NBA stars in FBI gambling probe after poking fun at arrests in wild video

Basketball legend Gilbert Arenas has spoken out to insist that he did not snitch on the NBA icons caught up in the FBI's bombshell gambling investigation.

The league was last week thrown into chaos when Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones were among more than 30 individuals charged over an alleged Mafia-led gambling ring that spanned decades.

Rozier, Billups and Jones were all charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. They have since issued denials through their respective attorneys. 

Arenas trolled the three NBA figures by appearing on his podcast, Gil's Arena, carrying a paper bag marked 'informant lunch.' He then joked: 'I didn’t get to eat it over there, I was talking too much... the Blazers wasn’t gonna win anyway, the last thing they needed was their coach!' 

Back in July, Arenas was arrested on suspicion of running an illegal underground gambling ring. He denied the charges and later declared: 'I'm snitching'

But the 43-year-old now insists he was talking about his case not this FBI probe.  'There is one thing I do: troll. Tell on somebody? I don't do that,' he said.

'C'mon man, why y'all putting me in something like this?' Arenas continued on a separate livestream. 'This is a whole different level.'

He said: 'I know I'm the one who said I would tell - [I meant] on my case. I don't know what this has to do with my case. I don't think you just walk around telling on cases you don't know about... my case is different. I don't know what my case has to do with [this]. 

'That's gambling and giving information on NBA games. How does that have to do with me?'

Arenas insisted the FBI case is a 'whole different breed' to his investigation. 'Common sense is common sense,' he added. 'I'm sorry y'all.'

Rozier and Jones have been charged on suspicion of turning professional basketball into a criminal sports betting operation. According to the indictment, Rozier and other defendants 'had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches' that was likely to affect the outcome of games or players' performances.

It is alleged they provided that information to other co-conspirators in exchange for either a flat fee or a share of the betting profits.

Meanwhile Trail Blazers coach Billups, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, was arrested in relation to an alleged illegal poker operation linked with the Mafia. 

The ring is allegedly tied to the Gambino, Bonanno and Genovese crime families, and saw rigged games take place in Manhattan, the Hamptons and Las Vegas. New York's notorious crime families are accused of using X-ray tables to tilt games in their favor and wearing special high-tech contact lenses to read pre-marked cards.