Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups is ‘confident about his situation,’ according to Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, in the aftermath of Billups’ arrest by federal authorities related to investigations involving illegal poker games with Mafia ties and illegal gambling related to NBA games.
Lue gave reporters an update on Billups before the Clippers’ 114-107 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. He and Billups, both former NBA players, are close friends and Lue revealed Sunday he is the godfather to Billups’ three daughters. Billups was placed on immediate leave by the league last week and the Trail Blazers named assistant Tiago Splitter their interim head coach.
‘It’s hard to process,’ Lue said, according to ESPN. ‘You hate to see him go through something like this, along with his three girls, who are my goddaughters, and his wife, Piper. I believe in Chauncey’s character. I know who he is as a person. I’ve been with him since I was 17 years old. So, it’s just hard to see something like this happen. He has my love and support always.’
Lue also commented on how Billups was doing.
‘When you’ve known somebody so long, you can just tell by their voice if he’s OK,’ Lue said. ‘Like I said, he’s confident in what’s going on. The toughest part just for him, just like his family going through with his daughters. But other than that, he’s really confident about the situation. So just hearing his voice, I can just see that he’s OK. So that was good to hear.’
The FBI secured multiple indictments on Thursday, Oct. 23 for more than 30 people related to their alleged role in an explosive gambling scandal that took attention away from the start of the 2025-26 season. Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones all were arrested as part of the investigations, which involved extensive illegal gambling rings, FBI director Kash Patel said during a news conference.
Billups was charged in connection with an illegal poker operation tied to the mafia, while Rozier is accused of manipulating his performance during an NBA game to benefit illegal betting. Jones is charged in both investigatons and faces allegations of providing non-public game status information on LeBron James and Anthony Davis when both played for the Lakers during the 2022-23 season.
Billups is not charged in both cases like Jones, but an unnamed co-conspirator accused of providing non-public game status information related to the Trail Blazers is described in the indictment as ‘an NBA player from approximately 1997 through 2014, and an NBA coach since at least 2021.’ Billups played in the NBA from 1997-2014 and took over as Portland’s coach ahead of the 2021-22 season.
