Chauncey Billups responds to FBI arrest

Chauncey Billups, the current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and a former star guard for both the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Buffaloes, was arrested by the FBI on Thursday morning in connection with an illegal poker operation that was tied to the Mafia.

Chris Heywood, an attorney representing Billups, released the following statement later on Thursday:

“Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity; men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others.

To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall-of-Fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.

Furthermore, Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to.

Chauncey Billups has never backed down. He does not plan to do so now. He will fight these allegations with the same tenacity that marked his 28-year career. We look forward to our day in court.”

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones were also arrested on Thursday in what ABC tagged as a “separate but related illegal gambling case.” Sleuths were able to connect the two cases with Billips possibly being Co-Conspirator 8 in the sports gambling ring. That would put Mr. Big Shot in a whole heck of a lot more trouble.

A total of 34 people were arrested as a result of what the FBI director Kash Patel said was a years-long investigation covering 11 states and involving tens of millions of dollars. Law enforcement shared that multiple charges involve four Mafia families and an organized crime network. Patel noted the fraud was “mind-boggling.”

Rozier is accused of participating in an illegal sports gambling scheme, where he used insider NBA information.

They say that the defendants “had access to private information known by NBA players or NBA coaches”  that could impact the outcomes of games or performances linked to gambling props.

“Let’s not mince words,” Patel said. “This is the insider trading saga for the NBA, that’s what this is.”

Billups, who was placed on immediate leave by the NBA, is named in the gambling portion of the scheme. He was allegedly involved in underground poker games that Mafia families backed, authorities said. Law enforcement says Billups was involved in the use of technology to steal millions from victims in the New York area.

Billups was on the sidelines for the Blazers on Wednesday night for the season opener, a game his squad dropped against the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-114.

The 49-year-old coach has a plethora of ties to the city of Denver. He was born here in 1976. He went to George Washington High School as a kid, then played college ball in Boulder for the Colorado Buffaloes, and spent five years across two separate stints with the Denver Nuggets as a player. He was a key piece of the 2009 Nuggets team that made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, one of the best teams in franchise history.

At Colorado, he was First-Team All-Big 12 in 1997 and was a consensus Second-Team All-American in 1997. His No. 4 is retired by the program. He was also named as Mr. Colorado Basketball three years in a row in high school (1993-1995). In 2024, he was elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

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