According to US media reports, Chaucey Billups’ arrest was related to illegal poker activities linked to the Mafia.
Published October 23, 2025
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier have been arrested in connection with an illegal gambling investigation, US media reported on Thursday.
ABC News, citing law enforcement officials, reported that the arrest of Billups, 49, is related to an illegal poker operation with ties to the Mafia.
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The television network said Rozier was arrested in a separate, related gambling case.
FBI Director Kash Patel is scheduled to make an announcement about the arrests at 10 a.m. (2 p.m. local time) in New York, according to CBS News.
Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and NBA Hall of Famer, retired from the league in 2014.
He has been the head coach of the Trail Blazers since 2021.
Billups was on the bench in the team’s first game of the season, a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
ABC reported that Billups is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Oregon later Thursday.
Rozier, 31, was selected 16th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2015 draft.
He played for three teams during his 11-year NBA career, averaging 13.9 points per game.
Rozier is suffering from a hamstring injury and did not play in the Heat’s NBA season opener on Wednesday.
NBA player Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors was permanently banned from the league last year for his role in a gambling scandal.
Porter, the younger brother of Michael Porter Jr. of the Brooklyn Nets, is accused of placing bets related to on-court performance.
He has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing.
NBA players are prohibited from betting on NBA games according to league rules. If you are caught gambling on an NBA game, you risk a fine, suspension, or lifetime ban.
Billups’ arrest comes three months after former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas was arrested in July on charges of running illegal poker games from his suburban Los Angeles mansion.
According to an indictment unsealed in Los Angeles, Arenas, a former Washington Wizards star, rented out a luxury home he owned in Encino from September 2021 to July 2022 “for the purpose of hosting high-stakes illegal poker games.”
Arenas is charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
He pleaded not guilty.
