Chauncey Billups made ill-fated comment just

The 2024-25 NBA season kicked off this week and started fairly uneventfully for the Portland Trail Blazers and Chauncey Billups, the team’s fifth-year head coach.

Billups’ squad suffered a slim 118-114 defeat at dwelling to a formidable Minnesota Timberwolves squad powered by Anthony Edwards’ explosive 41-point performance. When questioned about whether or not he feels the warmth to information Portland to its first postseason berth since 2021, Billups remained composed.

“That pressure thing is nothing to me, man,” he acknowledged. “I do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may.” Fewer than 12 hours following his “let the chips fall” comment, Billups discovered himself among 34 people apprehended in an intensive FBI investigation into illegal playing operations.

The 49-year-old Billups, a five-time All-Star and Pro Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, was allegedly utilized as a “fish” in a bootleg poker scheme orchestrated by organized crime.

He would purportedly entice rich people into manipulated poker matches during his tenure as an assistant coach (before becoming a member of the Blazers), securing a portion of the $7 million the legal enterprise collected general.

Billups wasn’t the sole high-profile NBA character taken into custody. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is said to have been implicated for allegedly warning accomplices that he would obtain fewer minutes than betting platforms projected, thus artificially decreasing his statistical output.

Former NBA middle Jontay Porter was ensnared in a comparable plot in 2024 and was convicted, a ruling that led to his lifetime expulsion from the league. The NBA issued a press release regarding each people.

“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today. Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities,” the assertion declared. “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

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Assistant coach Tiago Splitter, a former league champion as a participant and an NBA assistant since 2019, will step in as Billups’ momentary alternative in Portland for the foreseeable future.

The Trail Blazers are broadly anticipated to contend for a playoff berth in the competitive Western Conference this season following a number of years of wrestle.

The franchise acquired Jrue Holiday this offseason while banking on inside development from rising skills like Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan, and Scoot Henderson. Portland also secured longtime famous person Damian Lillard, though he’ll sit out the season as he recovers from an Achilles injury.