Former Timberwolves Guard, NBA Coach Arrested on Gambling Charges w/Mafia Ties

It took a late fourth quarter comeback to get it done but the Minnesota Timberwolves won their 2025-26 regular season opener on Wednesday night in Portland 118-114 over the Trail Blazers and their fifth-year head coach, Chauncey Billups.

Before he landed the Blazers head job (2021-22), Billups spent one season as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers (2020-21). And before that, he spent 17 NBA seasons between 1997 and 2014 as a Hall of Fame (2024 class) point guard.

Billups was drafted with the No. 3 overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, out of the University of Colorado. He played 17 seasons in the league for seven different teams, one of which was the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he spent two seasons from 2000-2002.

But while Chauncey Billups’ time spent in the Twin Cities as a player was short-lived, it wasn’t nearly as brief as his time as head coach of the 2025-26 Portland Trail Blazers, which as of now, feels like it will end after just one game

Chauncey Billups arrested for illegal poker operation w/Mafia ties

At some point between the end of last night’s season opener between the Wolves and Blazers, and 7:28 a.m. CDT Thursday morning, Billups was arrested by the FBI for his alleged involvement in an illegal gambling operation that reportedly has Mafia ties (Shams – ESPN).

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was also arrested, in a separate but related illegal gambling bust that included a total of 30 people, FBI Director Kash Patel announced this morning, in conjunction with the Billups arrest.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups has been arrested by the FBI for alleged illegal gambling, sources tell ESPN.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 23, 2025

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested Thursday as part of a pair of investigations related to illegal gambling, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Rozier was arrested Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Florida. The Heat lost their season opener to the Magic on Wednesday, when Rozier did not play due to a coach’s decision.

Billups’ arrest in Oregon was made as part of a separate but related illegal gambling case linked to an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia, according to an ABC News report. Billups is expected to make an initial court appearance later Thursday.

Shams Charania – ESPN

Related: MN Timberwolves Have a New Starting Point Guard

This is a huge deal, and the NBA is clearly treating it as such. Unlike Rozier, it does not appear Billups was arrested for fixing or cheating NBA games he was physically involved in. The charges specifically mention rigging and cheating in poker games. So, we will have to wait for more information before knowing exactly what happened.

Chauncey Billups has a brutal 117-212 (.356) record as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. Only half-joking, you have to wonder if he and the Mafia are holding a gambling debt over the Blazers’ owner, because that’s not a record conducive to a five-year tenure as an NBA team’s head coach.

FBI Director Kash Patel has announced the takedown of a massive illegal gambling ring involving coordination between NBA players, coaches, and several mafia crime families.

The operation stretched across 11 states and spanned several years, resulting in more than 30 arrests so… pic.twitter.com/9haLOUkX77

— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) October 23, 2025

Chauncey Billups the NBA (Minnesota Timberwolves) Player

As a player, Billups averaged 15.2 points, 5.4 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game, also earning 2x All-NBA Defense. Those numbers, along with 5 All-Star appearances, 3 All-NBA Teams, an NBA Finals win and NBA Finals MVP earned Billups a Hall of Fame induction last year… though that may not stick anymore either.

In the two seasons Chauncey Billups played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, he averaged 10.9 points, 4.5 assists and 2.4 rebounds, over 159 games.

February 27, 2002: Kevin Garnett had 33 PTS/15 REB and Chauncey Billups had 30 PTS/11 AST in the Timberwolves’ 112-101 win over the Lakers.

Billups made seven of his eight 3-point shots. Shaquille O’Neal had 27 PTS and Kobe Bryant added 20 PTS for Los Angeles.

📺CNN World Sport pic.twitter.com/oyiNryXOYO

— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) February 27, 2024

He and Kevin Garnett played in seven playoff games together, getting bounced in the first round of the 2001 and 2002 playoffs, before he left for Detroit as a free agent, where he won his only NBA title two years later (2003-04).