We Investigated the Unnamed Player in the NBA Gambling Scandal

TL;DR

Antonio Blakey, a Florida-based fringe NBA player, is Co-Conspirator #1 who originated the NBA gambling scandal by fixing Chinese basketball games first.

Key Points

• 1.The scandal's core network was built around sports betting influencer Marvez Fairley (Vzino Locks) and his partner Shane "Sugar Shane" Hennon, who organized straw bets through a group chat including NBA players.
• 2.Terry Rozier (Scary Terry) is the most publicly charged NBA player, accused of tipping off gamblers about faking a foot injury to exit a March 23, 2023 Charlotte Hornets game early, enabling bets on his "unders."
• 3.Dairo Laster (Peso), a former Kentucky linebacker and childhood friend of Rozier, allegedly sold Rozier's inside information for ~$100,000 and received flights to Philadelphia to pick up cash kickbacks from Vzino Locks.
• 4.The true origin of the scheme wasn't an NBA game — it was a March 6, 2023 Chinese Basketball Association game, where Antonio Blakey allegedly underperformed on purpose while the network bet $198,300 at a Philadelphia sportsbook.
• 5.Antonio Blakey was a McDonald's All-American, played at LSU alongside Ben Simmons, went undrafted in 2017, had a brief stint with the Chicago Bulls (76 NBA games, 7.5 PPG), and later became the CBA's leading scorer at 32.7 PPG.
• 6.Blakey fits the government's description of Co-Conspirator #1: a Florida resident who was "at times an NBA player," connected to Vzino Locks, Peso Laster, and Terry Rozier through verified Instagram posts and shared social history dating back to a 2014 Louisville recruiting visit.
• 7.In the CBA's 2023 playoffs, Blakey — averaging 28 shots over eight prior games — scored just 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting in a suspicious loss, with footage showing clear errors consistent with point-shaving.
• 8.The Eastern District of Pennsylvania's newest indictment (three total indictments, three continents) formally names but does not charge Antonio Blakey, alleging Vzino Locks placed nearly $200,000 in cash bribe payments into Blakey's Florida storage unit.
• 9.Blakey also allegedly recruited a CBA teammate to fix games and later used his basketball credibility to recruit college players, paying them $10,000–$30,000 per game — expanding the scheme into college basketball.
• 10.Blakey had a 2021 armed robbery incident at his Florida home that was later dropped after a victim filed an affidavit calling it a "misunderstanding," despite phone records showing Blakey FaceTimed suspects beforehand.
• 11.Sugar Shane Hennon, despite court-ordered terms prohibiting gambling, was filmed in January 2025 playing roulette with thousands of dollars in chips at the Wynn in Las Vegas, and is suspected by sources of being a government cooperator.