The NBA was rocked by the findings of an FBI investigation into an NBA gambling scandal.
While the findings put the league under a microscope, it specifically impacted the Portland Trail Blazers and their head coach, Chauncey Billups.
An NBA Hall of Famer after a 17-year career, Billups was hired as the head coach of the Blazers in 2021. Billups’ career on NBA sidelines has now come a screeching halt, following his arrest on Oct. 23. The league placed the Blazers’ coach on immediate leave after the indictment was revealed.
With details still emerging and the situation continuing to evolve, it’s unclear when, or if, Billups will return to the sidelines for Portland’s team.
However, it is clear that the team will need a new head coach, which they managed to act swiftly on after the news broke.
Portland named Tiago Splitter its interim coach on Oct. 23, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The former San Antonio Spurs center was in his first season as a Blazers’ assistant.
Here’s what to know.
Who is Tiago Splitter?
Splitter was an assistant coach with the Blazers and is now the team’s interim head coach.
The 40-year-old comes with plenty of experience on the sidelines, both as a player and coach. He was drafted by the Spurs with the 28th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, but didn’t debut until 2010 – playing five seasons for Gregg Popovich.
Splitter played in 355 games, starting in 153, across his seven NBA seasons. The center averaged 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds before retiring in 2018.
It didn’t take long for him to find his way back to the court, landing a gig with the Brooklyn Nets as a pro scout in 2018 and later a player development coach in 2019.
He managed to stick around through mutliple coaching changes in Brooklyn. Originally hired as part of Kenny Atkinson’s staff, Splitter was kept on board for the Steve Nash and Jacque Vaughn eras before leaving the organization in 2023.
The Brazilian spent one season as an assistant with the Houston Rockets and then made a one-year stop in Europe before returning to the NBA as a Blazers assistant in 2025.
Now he will get his chance to make his mark as an NBA head coach.
