In October, right before the NBA season was about to get underway, news came out about a gambling scandal that involved Miami Heat star Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncy Billups. They were allegedly involved in illegal sports betting, along with rigged poker games run by the mafia, according to USA Today.
The Boston Celtics drafted Rozier in 2016, where he averaged only one point per game. However, he was able to make a name for himself in 2023, when he averaged 21 points per game. In Rozier’s career, he played for three different teams: the Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, and the Miami Heat.
Rozier was questioned about a game back on March 23, 2023, as a member of the Hornets, where he reportedly told a childhood friend that he was going to leave a game early against the Pelicans in which he only played nine minutes. It was reported that he earned around $100,000 on a bet he placed on the game, according to ESPN.
Billups was a former NBA player. He played from 1997-2014. After he retired, he became a head coach in the NBA for the Portland Trail Blazers. When Billups played in the league, he averaged 15.2 points per game (PPG) over his career. He also won the NBA Finals in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons, which earned him a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
He has been a coach since 2021, when he got hired as the head coach for the Trail Blazers. This happened shortly after they fired their previous head coach.
Billups is being questioned about illegal, rigged poker games run by the mafia, according to USA Today. Billups’ lawyer has denied any gambling accusations.
Currently, the NBA is still on an ongoing investigation into the issue, but Billups has been fired as a head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers, and Rozier has been cut by the Miami Heat. With this news, the Blazers promoted Tiago Splitter as the new head coach, and the Heat is in search of a new guard to replace Rozier.
