The federal indictment of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier in a gambling investigation came several months after the NBA veteran was first implicated in the scheme, but the indictment of Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups as part of a second scheme blindsided the basketball world on Thursday.
While Rozier’s charges focus on his alleged role in tampering with NBA games, Billups was charged in a separate scheme involving illegal poker games tied to the mafia. According to U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr., who spoke Thursday morning, Billups was part of a poker operation that collectively swindled victims out of millions of dollars using high-tech cheating mechanisms.
Billups, now in his fifth season as head coach of the Trail Blazers, will make his first court appearance on Thursday, less than 24 hours after he coached Portland’s season-opening loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The question now is whether Billups will ever coach the Trail Blazers again.
Here’s what you need to know about Billups’ job status after his federal indictment.
Will Trail Blazers fire Chauncey Billups?
The NBA placed Billups on immediate leave Thursday, while the Trail Blazers acknowledge the decision in a statement and named Tiago Splitter their acting head coach.
— Trail Blazers PR (@TrailBlazersPR) October 23, 2025
The league did not place a timeline on Billups’ leave, but it will take him off the sidelines in Portland indefinitely.
NBA statement on Billups and Rozier being placed on leave from their respective teams: https://t.co/Bm1rC3Jwq1 pic.twitter.com/aoXqj4IEAL
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 23, 2025
It isn’t clear whether the Trail Blazers had any awareness that Billups was under federal investigation. The Hall of Fame point guard signed a contract extension in April after overseeing a 15-win year-to-year improvement and coached Wednesday’s opener against the Timberwolves.
While the indictment does not allege that Billups tampered with or bet on NBA games in any way, the charges are serious enough to raise legitimate questions about his future as a head coach.
MORE NBA GAMBLING SCANDAL NEWS:
Who is the Trail Blazers interim coach?
The Trail Blazers will move forward with assistant Tiago Splitter as their interim head coach. Portland reportedly considered Nate Bjorkgren, who was the Indiana Pacers’ head coach in 2020-21, but Bjorkgren decided it was best to continue in his current role as lead assistant.
Splitter, 40, played in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs and other teams before spending five seasons as an NBA assistant and one as the head coach of a professional team in France.
Chauncey Billups gambling allegations, explained
Billups is accused of helping run an illegal poker operation that collectively swindled about $7 million from victims through the use of high-tech cheating mechanisms, including X-ray tables to scan playing cards, custom glasses capable of reading cards, and rigged card-shuffling machines.
The FBI also noted that celebrities, such as Billups, were used to lure unsuspecting players into the allegedly rigged poker games. The scheme is allegedly tied to a handful of Italian crime families, also known as the mafia.
Billups is not accused of betting on or tampering with NBA games, unlike Rozier.
Billups’ lawyer released a statement indicating that they intend to fight the charges against the head coach. With speculation that Billups could also be involved in the Rozier side of the case, the lawyer addressed that by saying, “Chauncey Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League.”
Statement from Chauncey Billups’ attorney to ESPN, making clear that Billups, like Terry Rozier, will fight the FBI’s charges: pic.twitter.com/YCugGaXiiZ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 24, 2025
MORE: Full details on Chauncey Billups’ arrest
Trail Blazers upcoming schedule
Here are the Trail Blazers’ next 10 games:
| Date | Matchup | Time (ET) |
| Oct. 24 | vs. Warriors | 10 p.m. |
| Oct. 26 | at Clippers | 9 p.m. |
| Oct. 27 | at Lakers | 10:30 p.m. |
| Oct. 29 | at Jazz | 9 p.m. |
| Oct. 31 | vs. Nuggets | 10 p.m. |
| Nov. 3 | vs. Lakers | 10 p.m. |
| Nov. 5 | vs. Thunder | 10 p.m. |
| Nov. 8 | at Heat | 8 p.m. |
| Nov. 10 | at Magic | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 12 | at Pelicans | 8 p.m. |
Portland blew a late lead in a season-opening loss to the Timberwolves and has one more chance to pick up a home win before a three-game road trip with matchups against both Los Angeles teams and the Utah Jazz.
Chauncey Billups coaching record
| Season | W | L | Pct. |
| 2021-22 | 27 | 55 | .329 |
| 2022-23 | 33 | 49 | .402 |
| 2023-24 | 21 | 61 | .256 |
| 2024-25 | 36 | 46 | .439 |
| 2025-26 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Career | 117 | 212 | .356 |
Billups has yet to post a winning season as head coach of the Trail Blazers. He survived a 21-win campaign in 2023-24, in what was fully expected to be a rebuilding season after the franchise traded Damian Lillard, and a 15-win improvement in 2024–25 was enough to earn Billups an extension ahead of the 2025-[26 season.
The Trail Blazers are still searching for a legitimate star to build around, but their hope entering the current season was to at least remain in the playoff picture in a loaded Western Conference. Whether Billups will get the chance to see that through is unclear.
