Following Wednesday night’s opening night loss, the Portland Trail Blazers’ season has already been turned upside down.

On Thursday morning, just hours after the game, the FBI arrested head coach Chauncey Billups on charges that he participated in an illegal gambling ring.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups among more than 30 arrested in federal gambling probe

The Trail Blazers have already named assistant coach Tiago Splitter as an interim replacement for Billups, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

The NBA issued a statement Thursday morning saying it had placed Billups on immediate leave.

The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/vJ4bL2JwiC

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) October 23, 2025

“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the statement said. “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

The Trail Blazers have not issued a statement since the arrest.

Billups was one of 30 people named in the federal indictment that was filed on Oct. 9. It describes a sophisticated rigged poker scheme involving members of multiple New York crime families.

Billups is charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering.

The scheme, according to the indictment, relied on “face cards,” famous former athletes that lent credibility to the poker games. Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones were face cards and allegedly received a portion of the money earned from the fraudulent poker games.

The indictment describes how the operators of the scheme used rigged card shuffler to fix the poker games and defraud players, who assumed they were playing a legitimate game.

The scheme had been in operation since 2019 and defrauded victims out of $7.15 million.

One player in 2023 was defrauded out of $1.8 million, the indictment states.

Billups signed a multi-year contract extension with the Trail Blazers in April. He’s been head coach since 2021.

This story is developing and will be updated.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/23/portland-trail-blazers-name-interim-coach-after-billups-arrest/