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NBA places Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier on immediate leave amid gambling investigation

by: Alex Byington11 hours ago_AlexByington
ChaunceyBillups-TerryRozier
Chauncey Billups (John Hefti-Imagn Images) | Terry Rozier (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

The NBA has placed Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on “immediate leave” following their Thursday morning arrests over illegal sports gambling, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Billups’ and Rozier’s arrests were part of a federal probe into illegal gambling practices, including illegal prop bets and an illegal poker ring that had ties to the mafia.

The NBA released a statement on the decision Thursday morning. It came shortly after the FBI held a press conference.

“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments 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 NBA release stated, according to John Canzano. “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

Under the direction of FBI director Kash Patel, the FBI announced it has made more than 30 arrests related to two different federal investigations into gambling-related activities, with Billups, Rozier and former NBA player-turned-assistant Damon Jones among those arrested Thursday. The FBI also accused the Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese mafia families of backing rigged poker games that allegedly scammed victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The poker games were reportedly rigged using technology such as chip tray analyzers and an X-ray table, according to federal prosecutors.

Rozier’s case is the same one that resulted in the NBA permanently banning former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter. That came after he was arrested and later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud stemming from allegations he manipulated his own statistics in 2023-24 for betting purposes.

Rozier, a former first-round pick out of Louisville in the 2015 NBA Draft, is a decade into his career in the NBA. He has stops with the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, and Miami Heat.

Billups played his college basketball at Colorado before becoming a first round pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, starting his career with the Boston Celtics. He’d have a career that lasted through the 2014 season, playing for seven different teams. In 2004, he would win an NBA Championship and be named the Finals MVP. A five-time all-star, Billups was particularly known as an elite defensive player.

In 2020, Billups began his coaching career as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, in 2021, he became the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.

— On3’s Sam Gillenwater and Dan Morrison contributed to this report.