The Boston Celtics have enjoyed a solid start to the 2025-26 campaign, but the same cannot be said for Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, who initially began his playing career with the C’s all the way back in 1997.
On Oct. 23, Billups was arrested as part of a federal gambling investigation by the FBI. Billups was allegedly involved in an illegal poker operation that had ties to organized crime groups. According to other documents, there’s a chance that Billups was revealing insider information to associates in a sports betting scheme, as well.
Billups is currently facing charges of wire fraud and money laundering, both of which carry no more than 20 years in prison. All eyes are on Billups to see how he handles this situation, and it sounds like he will initially plead not guilty to these charges.
“A source told me that Chauncey Billups will be pleading not guilty to the illegal sports betting charges,” Shams Charania reported on “NBA Today.” “This will be a long, drawn-out process … This will go about six to 12 months at least.”
During his playing career, Billups was known best for his time with the Detroit Pistons, but he was initially selected with the No. 3 overall pick by the Celtics in the 1997 NBA Draft. Billups averaged 11.2 points, 3.9 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 51 games for the C’s before he got traded to the Toronto Raptors.
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While there is still certainly quite a bit of information to come out from Billups’ ongoing case, his coaching career could be disrupted by this gambling scandal. With another former Celtic, Terry Rozier, also involved in this investigation, this will surely be a situation worth monitoring moving forward.