The NBA world was rocked by reports of players and coaches being arrested for allegedly taking part in illegal gambling, and one of the names caught up in the controversy was Chauncey Billups. The Portland Trail Blazers head coach was arrested on October 23 for his alleged involvement in an illegal gambling ring tied to the Italian mafia.
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According to reports, Billups was linked to a high-stakes underground poker operation that had been under investigation for months. It’s a shocking twist for the former Finals MVP, whose clean-cut image now faces serious damage as new details continue to emerge.
One person who was just as stunned as the rest of the basketball world was Michael Cooper. Having watched Billups’ career evolve and seeing him grow into a respected NBA coach, the Showtime Lakers legend said he never suspected that the man was carrying such a dark secret.
“Very surprised. I’m not a gambler,” stated Cooper to VladTV. “I don’t play poker. I do gamble when I go to Vegas but I’m not heavily into that. For Chauncey Billups to be caught up into all this is so disturbing to me a little bit.”
“I never saw him as that kind of player. Chauncey is so low-key. So cool, so calm, so collected. For you to get caught up into that means you were kind of looking, especially with the mob families.”
Cooper wasn’t the first person to say this about Billups, and he’ll certainly not be the last. It makes sense that a friend would speak highly of the kind of person the Pistons superstar was in order to protect his name. The problem is, if he turns out to be guilty, it’s going to make Cooper look like a fool.
“Lets go with he’s innocent until proven guilty, and that’s all Imma say on it,” added Cooper. “Because I’m just shocked that Chauncey, that he would be involved with that. We don’t know to what degree. Let’s just hope the best for him.”
The VladTV interviewer then mentioned how Gilbert Arenas, who appears regularly on his show, was arrested earlier this year for a similar crime and suggested that Gil could have ratted Billups out. As realistic as that sounds, Cooper wondered if that would just get Arenas in further trouble…and not with the law.
“Let’s hope it’s not true. When you get involved with the Mafia people like that, the best thing to do is tape your mouth shut man and take whatever is coming to you. I don’t believe that.”
All of this doesn’t even take into the fact that Billups wasn’t the only NBA name to get into trouble. Miami Heat star Terry Rozier was arrested for allegedly sitting out a game that had a ton of under wagers made on him back in 2023.
“And the other young man Rozier? His is a little more difficult I hear because he’s sitting out games. That there, that’s terrible there,” stated Cooper.
And terrible it is. The image that this could potentially do on the NBA is catastrophic. And it might only get worse. An NBA Insider claimed that legal teams are continuing to search the trail of other b-ball stars, including some from college.
One thing is certain, this story is not going away overnight. And with the Italian mob involved, there’s a really scary path that this entire ordeal could take.
