Some disturbing news is coming out of the NBA this morning involving Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier. Billups is the current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, while Rozier is a point guard for the Miami Heat.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Rozier had been under FBI investigation for months. The investigation stems from accusations of illegal sports gambling. Of course, we have seen some interesting alleged cases over the past couple of years. Some players have been accused of point shaving and purposely missing shots in order to hit bets.
Following the investigation, Rozier was arrested and is now facing some serious charges. Furthermore, Billups was reportedly arrested for non-sports-related gambling. Instead, he is being tied to an alleged illegal poker operation that was being ran by the mafia. Simply put, Billups' case is not related to Rozier's. However, they were arrested around the exact same time.
Chauncey Billups Arrest
This news is certainly going to be one of the biggest stories in the NBA throughout the upcoming week, and for very good reason. At the end of the day, the FBI is involved, and as we speak, Kash Patel is giving a press conference on this.
The Trail Blazers could be without their head coach for the forseeable future. The news is so fresh that the Trail Blazers have yet to make a statement on the arrest. Meanwhile, the Heat were probably preparing for the worst with Rozier given the rumblings throughout the offseason.
Having said all that, illegal gambling is a serious issue, especially as it pertains to the integrity of basketball. The NBA cannot allow for this kind of thing to go on, and we imagine some serious punishments will be handed down accordingly.
This could end up being a day of reckoning for the league as a whole. The season just started, and there are multiple controversies going on. We can only imagine what Adam Silver must be thinking.
