Blazers coach Chauncey Billups arrested by FBI for illegal gambling

[PushDaRock]

Doesn't sound like Billups gambling had anything to do with NBA games. For "integrity" of the sport, Rozier and Jones was much worse.

The games Billups participated in were illegal. If I'm understanding correctly, the games were fixed by Billups and la costa nostra. If the games were illegal, doesn't that mean the marks getting taken in the scheme were also involved in illegal activity? Maybe I'm obtuse, but what's the big deal here? House always wins so if people want to piss away their money it's going to happen whether its a card game at a hotel hosted by Tony Soprano or the Hard Rock Casino. How are the people who lost money in these illegal games considered victims? Isn't it like someone buying $500k of an illegal drug getting fake product instead of the real thing or paying a fake hitmen $50k to commit a murder?

lol yeah that's a reach.

Playing in a private game that collects rake is closer to jaywalking. Technically illegal and against the law but nobody really cares. It's pretty rare that these games get raided. It only becomes a big deal usually when illegal activity is involved in addition to these games being run.

I still don't get why they'd care about victims in an illegal game who were also committing a crime? Maybe they are connected somehow?

That's like saying you don't care if a jaywalker gets smoked by a car that was speeding by a drunk driver.

[BlazersBroncos]

Starting the FBI presser and my god Kash Patel is a joke of a person.

It’s so cool having a federal government headed up by nothing but podcast meme edgelords.

Idiocracy incarnate.

[LockoutSeason]

That press conference is classic FBI grandstanding.

They’re definitely using this to cover up their other failures, like the Epstein Files.

[Calvin Klein]

The timing of everything is too perfect for it to be a coincidence, just after opening night among other things. Whether these guys are guilty or not, FBI definitely trying to put on a show.

[FrightCoward]

Starting the FBI presser and my god Kash Patel is a joke of a person.

It’s so cool having a federal government headed up by nothing but podcast meme edgelords.

Idiocracy incarnate.

Which is why I’m skeptical of anything these people say regarding this case or any, really. There is no way this idiot or his cronies figured out some intricate sports gambling ring by themselves.

[liquidswords]

That press conference is classic FBI grandstanding.

They’re definitely using this to cover up their other failures, like the Epstein Files.

Wouldn't even just isolate to FBI...its so on brand for this administration. No matter what the situation is, they will always take time to jack themselves off publicly

[Hornet Mania]

If you're holding your breath for Silver to seriously address the gambling problem now I'm afraid you're going to die of oxygen deprivation.

Dude made the deal with the devil and the devil's bill is coming due.

[DusterBuster]

It’s so cool having a federal government headed up by nothing but podcast meme edgelords.

Idiocracy incarnate.

Which is why I’m skeptical of anything these people say regarding this case or any, really. There is no way this idiot or his cronies figured out some intricate sports gambling ring by themselves.

This investigation predates this administration tho. Not to give a chode like Patel a pass, but I think he’s just the figure head and this was already well in the pipelines of the FBI before him.

[Wile E. Coyote]

This investigation goes back to when Biden was president. Not that he was aware of it, of course. Either way, the chickens have come home to roost.

[The KnicksFix]

So Billups coaching their next game or nah?

[enigmatics]

If you're holding your breath for Silver to seriously address the gambling problem now I'm afraid you're going to die of oxygen deprivation.

Dude made the deal with the devil and the devil's bill is coming due.

Gambling and China got that dude by his tiny little weasley testicles.

[10DayContract]

The Feds are wild man. They literally waited until ONE game into the season to make an example out of everyone. They could've arrested everyone this Summer and given teams time to regroup, but they dropped this bomb basically Day One of the NBA season.

[enigmatics]

This investigation goes back to when Biden was president. Not that he was aware of it, of course. Either way, the chickens have come home to roost.

Same for the John Bolton thing which many still arent aware of.

I wonder what other things just sat there in the "pipeline".

[Hornet Mania]

The Feds are wild man. They literally waited until ONE game into the season to make an example out of everyone. They could've arrested everyone this Summer and given teams time to regroup, but they dropped this bomb basically Day One of the NBA season.

It might be a blessing in disguise for the league. It can cause maximum embarrassment and potentially make them pump the breaks a bit on the gratuitous promotion of gambling during literally every segment of every broadcast related to their product.

I doubt it though. I'm already seeing a lot of talk about Trump people, so if I were Silver I'd just try to act as if it's a political witch hunt. That's what I cynically expect he will ultimately do. Admit fault for only Chauncey and Rozier, and then say the feds are grandstanding and picking on us because we're a progressive basketball league. I hope I'm wrong though because that would be super lame since this investigation spans administrations.

The thing to remember here: this is still the beginning of these problems. This is not even close to the worst it will get due to gambling in pro sports.

[Bank Shot]

Guessing the timing has something to do with Zhao buying a pardon. Chauncey should have done a crypto scam instead.

[amcoolio]

Sorry but it’s just hard to take anything the FBI does seriously nowadays.

[10DayContract]

The Feds are wild man. They literally waited until ONE game into the season to make an example out of everyone. They could've arrested everyone this Summer and given teams time to regroup, but they dropped this bomb basically Day One of the NBA season.

It might be a blessing in disguise for the league. It can cause maximum embarrassment and potentially make them pump the breaks a bit on the gratuitous promotion of gambling during literally every segment of every broadcast related to their product.

I doubt it though. I'm already seeing a lot of talk about Trump people, so if I were Silver I'd just try to act as if it's a political witch hunt. That's what I cynically expect he will ultimately do. Admit fault for only Chauncey and Rozier, and then say the feds are grandstanding and picking on us because we're a progressive basketball league. I hope I'm wrong though because that would be super lame since this investigation spans administrations.

The thing to remember here: this is still the beginning of these problems. This is not even close to the worst it will get due to gambling in pro sports.

100% agree with this. There are waaaaaayyyyyy more people involved with this. This is the mafia we're talking about. I know lots of folks are shaking in their boots right now because some of the people are going to start snitching.

Sh*t, I was just watching The Dan LeBatard Show last week and Nick Wright was talking about a high stakes NY poker game he had just left in the early morning that day. He said some whales were at that game. Those types of details make me wonder who in the media is even going to take this seriously. It's basically a conflict of interest for all of sports media.

[AlexanderRight]

Does this nuke Chauncey's HOF bid?

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Sounds stupid for a guy in his position, but not really something related to the league at all.

That's a pretty naive take. When a league bear hugs gambling like the NBA has, better believe that it has externalities. That's not to say that it absolves Billups for his accountability, but it certainly is telling about the culture of the league as it relates to gambling if people working directly with the league, who are already making millions, are engaged in alleged organized criminal gambling operations. Call me crazy, but the screams as a pervasive culture problem.

It also can't be looked at in a vacuum. This comes after a Porter brother being banned by the league, Rozier being arrested, assistant coach Jones in Cleveland being arrested. They are very much interconnected by optics no matter how disparate the allegations.

That "pervasive culture" has always existed. Everyone is familiar with the Michael Jordan degenerate gambling stories. The awareness of it is just getting more people caught these days whereas these guys used to have immunity.

Fair enough, but the onus is now on the league given it's full embrace of the league. It's one thing if you have rogue actors when you are denouncing it, but when it becomes part of the core of your business you don't have anything in the way of a moral high ground. Regardless, it's a problem for the league because what Billups was involved in looks brazen.

[Wile E. Coyote]

When you’ve got “objective journalists” like Stephen A. Smith on gambling commercials, it makes the public wonder if the media is going to be totally forthcoming on all the details.