Chauncey Billups made ill-fated comment just – Sports News
The 2024-25 NBA season kicked off this week and commenced fairly uneventfully for the Portland Trail Blazers and Chauncey Billups, the workforce’s fifth-year head coach.
Billups’ squad suffered a slender 118-114 defeat at home to a formidable Minnesota Timberwolves squad powered by Anthony Edwards’ explosive 41-point efficiency. When questioned about whether or not he feels the heat to information Portland to its first postseason berth since 2021, Billups remained composed.
“That pressure thing is nothing to me, man,” he said. “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 amongst 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 an illicit poker scheme orchestrated by organized crime.
He would purportedly entice rich people into manipulated poker matches during his tenure as an assistant coach (earlier than becoming a member of the Blazers), securing a portion of the $7 million the felony enterprise collected general.
Billups wasn’t the only high-profile NBA persona taken into custody. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is alleged 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 heart 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 assertion 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’ non permanent substitute in Portland for the foreseeable future.
The Trail Blazers are broadly anticipated to contend for a playoff berth within the aggressive Western Conference this season following a number of years of wrestle.
The franchise acquired Jrue Holiday this offseason whereas banking on inner growth from rising skills like Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Donovan Clingan, and Scoot Henderson. Portland additionally secured longtime celebrity Damian Lillard, although he’ll sit out the season as he recovers from an Achilles damage.
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