NBA All-stars charged $100,000 to help recover $6.5 million they lost in ‘teased’ dice game

Eugene Henley, head of the Big U Enterprise used to handle check ins from NBA All-Stars and other athletes coming into Los Angeles.

NBA All-stars charged $100,000 to help recover $6.5 million they lost in ‘teased’ dice game

Gang leader Eugene Henley charged NBA All-Stars $100K to help recover $6.5 million from dice game

Over the past two decades, basketball players have been earning a considerable amount of money. NBA All-Stars earn a lot more and millions of dollars are nothing for them. Some of them end up gambling with millions of dollars.

Tales of Michael Jordan gambling away on card games is part of NBA folklore. So was his then friend Charles Barkley, who has famously lost a lot to gambling. But that has not stopped him, even if he has eased off on the amount of money he bets.

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Gambling is something athletes from all walks of life do take part at some point. Some take it easy, but then there are others who risk a lot on the chances of losing it all. The LA Times revealed a particular game of dice that took place in June 2019 in Los Angeles.

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On one had were two NBA All-Stars, one current, one former. Some theories float that the then current All-Star was LA native James Harden. They were playing against a professional boxer who was identified as A.B. The game ended where the current All-Star lost $1.5 million whereas the former All-Star lost $5 million.

Then it was revealed that AB had cheated the two NBA All-Stars after using ‘teased’ dice. Naturally after this, the two basketball stars wanted to recover their money. They approached Eugene “Big U” Henley, a Crips leader and an OG in the Rollin’ 60s.

Henley charged both the All-Stars $100,000 to help get their money back. The 58-year-old music producer ‘got into it’ with AB for cheating on the basketball players. It is not known if they managed to recover their money, but Henley was furious was AB for not checking in, a process he followed with every athlete or artist.

Eugene Henley used to mandate athletes to check in with him

Eugene Henley presented himself as a music producer. But behind that public image, he was an extortionist who ran a ‘mafia-like’ empire in Los Angeles. His power and influence was such that everybody in Los Angeles knew about him.

In fact, just like he charged $100,000 from those NBA All-Stars, he also would charge other NBA stars in Los Angeles for check ins. Which means, they would have to pay up front for protection. Otherwise, they would face retaliation from the Big U enterprise.

Henley has denied charging athletes and musicians coming into Los Angeles. But as per the charge sheet filed by federal authorities, he received what was allegedly protection money. FBI special agent Andrew Roosa said.

Members and associates of the Big U Enterprise used Henley’s and the group’s history and reputation to “‘control’ Los Angeles through violence, fear, and intimidation.”

LA Times report

At the same time, Eugene Henley promoted himself as a reformed gang member. He created an alternate reality by trumping up the Big U Enterprise as an organization that was focused on improving the community.

NBA stars and gambling

Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley might be the most publicly known gamblers. But they might not be the last of them. When athletes end up earning millions, their initial betting amounts increase. That is how they end up gambling a lot of money.

Jordan famously went down $900K in a game of spades, before clawing back to recover almost all of it. But others have lost money, such as Charles Barkley who claims to have lost nearly $10 million over his career.

Those are amounts which show that gambling can sometimes go to the head and players can lose track. But even if the amounts are small, greed becomes a major talking point. Jontay Porter‘s life ban came about after he aided bettors, that too for a miniscule amount when compared to the millions at stake.