The alleged connection between the Mafia and two former NBA players -- Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and longtime veteran Damon Jones -- began the way such things often do: through a little-known intermediary. That's one of the ways organized crime finds its way into locker rooms and athletes' inner circles -- by degrees, through introductions that seem harmless enough.
What starts as a friendly poker night or an invitation from a trusted acquaintance can, before long, become something else entirely -- a sticky web of influence and, soon enough, obligation, former prosecutors and those who study the Mob say.