A day after Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups – a Basketball Hall of Famer – and Heat guard Terry Rozier were involved in a federal investigation into sports betting and gambling, the NBA world is still grappling with the news.
Celtics guard Anfernee Simons, who was traded to Boston from Portland last offseason, said Friday he was “in shock” when he learned his former coach, Billups, had been arrested by the FBI in connection with an underground mob-backed poker scheme.
“It definitely hit pretty hard,” Simons said before Friday’s game against the Knicks. “Evidently [I’ve got] great relationship with Chauncey, as you know, even after the trade, he checks in with me, I check in with him and so we had a great relationship. And I think, as I said before, it’s an unfortunate situation for him to be in, especially for him and his family, all the media attention that’s coming in – the criticism – and it’s just an unfortunate situation.
Nets guard Terance Mann echoed Simons’ sentiment, saying he and Billups remained close even after Mann left Portland.
“Absolutely shocked,” Mann said. “I had no idea. Definitely a shocking situation. So, you know, good luck to him with what he’s doing.”
Follow The Post’s live updates on the NBA and mafia gambling scandal
Knicks guard Josh Hart declined to talk about the specific situation, but he vouched for Billups, under whom he played for a year in Portland.
“Chauncey was great to me, one of my favorite people in general. He was a genuine person,” Hart said. “So I don’t know the facts and everything, but Chauncey is a great guy and I’ll talk about it later when all the facts are out.”
Celtics star Jaylen Brown said it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction with the allegations floating around. But Brown believes the allegations against Rozier, who spent the first three years of Brown’s career in Boston, “do not reflect on his character.”
Follow The Post’s latest on the gambling scandal rocking the NBA:
“We will get to the bottom of it as a union and figure out what the next step forward is,” said Brown, the vice president of the NBA players association.
Billups is facing wire fraud and money laundering charges after allegedly participating in an illegal poker operation in which he and other defendants used high-tech technology to cheat and steal millions of dollars from victims.
Meanwhile, Rozier is facing charges in connection with an alleged sports betting insider conspiracy, accusing him of sharing non-public information with gamblers.
The NBA announced Thursday afternoon that Billups and Rozier have been placed on “immediate leave” while the league continues to review the charges announced Thursday.
The FBI has arrested 31 people involved in a rigged poker gaming ring backed by New York City’s organized crime families.
- Ernest Aiello – reputed Bonanno gangster
- Nelson “Spanish G” Alvarez
- Louis “Lou Ap” Apicella
- Ammar “Flapper Poker” Awawdeh
- Saul Becher – professional poker player
- Chauncey Billups – Portland Trail Blazers coach, NBA Hall of Famer and 2004 NBA Champion
- Matthew “The Wrestler” Daddino
- Eric ‘Spooky’ Serious
- Lee Fama – professional poker player
- Johannes Gallo
- Marco Garzon
- Thomas “Tommy Juice” Gelardo – reputed Lucchese gangster charged in 2013 for beating a porn star girlfriend
- Jamie Gilet
- Tony ‘Black Tony’ Goodson
- Kenny Han
- Shane “Sugar” Hair
- Osman “Albanian Bruce” Hoti
- Horatio Hu
- Zhen “Scruli” Hu
- Damon “Dee Jones” Jones – NBA player from 1998 to 2009
- Joseph Lanni
- John “John South” Mazzola
- Curtis Meeks
- Nicholas Minucci
- Michael Renzulli
- Anthony Ruggero Jr.
- Anthony “Doc” Shnayderman
- Robert ‘Black Rob’ Stroud
- Seth Trustman
- Sophia “Pookie” Wei
- Julius Ziliani
Billups and Rozier have both denied the allegations.
Billups is also believed to be an unnamed defendant in the sports gambling indictment, who allegedly told a gambler that the Trail Blazers would tank and sit some of their best players in a March 24, 2023 game against the Bulls. Four regular Portland starters, including Simons, did not play in that game, which the Trail Blazers lost by 28.
Simons said he didn’t know Portland was fueling.
“We are told to play and not be in charge of the minutes, you know what I mean,” Simons said. “So you just play until you get out of the game or you don’t play. So it was that simple. I don’t think I was told anything.”
However, the charges put a spotlight on Pandora’s box that opened with the legalization of sports betting. Players, teams and leagues face a barrage of issues, including player harassment and questions about the integrity of the game.
“That whole thing [betting] world was introduced a few years ago, and I don’t think so [the league] We took players into consideration, especially the energy and behavior that goes around, you know the gambling and how that directly correlates with the players,” Brown said. “We don’t benefit from the winnings or anything like that, but we have to deal with a lot of the extra negativity and scrutiny behind all the gambling stuff and on top of that it creates more integrity issues.”
Simons said sports betting “has always been a topic” among players, team administrators and the league. He also said that players are often reminded not to share information with anyone until it is public.
“It’s clear that gambling in the sports world is increasing and we just have to make sure that players are aware of all the risks of simple conversations with different people about the game or confidential information. So you have to be careful in those conversations,” Simons said. “It’s a difficult situation to be in. You just have to be smart in that situation and know that if it’s not public, you shouldn’t say it.”
— Brian Lewis and Zach Braziller contributed to this report
#Anfernee #Simons #shock #Chauncey #Billup #arrest #remembers #benched #Blazers #tank #game