The alleged thieves have also been linked to items valued at $1m stolen from two-time NBA All-Star Ja Morant during a game and $1.5m worth of goods taken from the home of a Milwaukee Bucks player, Bobby Portis Jr, around tip-off time as the Bucks faced the Cleveland Cavaliers on 2 November.
In a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday, federal prosecutors in Florida allege that a group of seven Chilean men stole items worth millions of dollars from the homes of at least four NFL and two NBA players during break-ins last year.
Medals were stolen from the home of Chelsea’s Reece James while he was playing in a Champions League game in 2021 by robbers, he said, who “managed to collectively lift a heavy safe containing some personal items of mine into their car”.
As Joe Burrow led the Cincinnati Bengals to a 27-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys last December a group allegedly robbed the quarterback’s home during a cross-country crime spree that targeted at least six high-profile athletes.
Later that month an unnamed Tampa Bay Buccaneers player had $167,000 worth of goods taken while the Buccaneers played the Baltimore Ravens, according to the FBI, including a Louis Vuitton suitcase, Rolex watches and a gun.
