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Celtics’ Anfernee Simons ‘in shock’ over Chauncey Billups arrest
NEW YORK — Celtics guard Anfernee Simons was stunned Thursday to learn that his former head coach had been arrested as part of a wide-ranging federal gambling investigation.
Chauncey Billups, Simons’ coach in Portland for the last four seasons, was one of more than 30 individuals charged in connection with an alleged Mafia-backed scheme to rig poker games. Billups was charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
“It hit me pretty tough, for sure,” Simons, who was traded to Boston this offseason, said after Friday’s morning shootaround at Madison Square Garden. “Just in shock. And obviously, I’ve got a great relationship with Chauncey. Even after the trade, he’s checking in on me and I’m checking in on him. So we had a great relationship, and I think it’s an unfortunate situation for him to be in, especially for him and his family, all the media attention that’s coming in, the scrutiny. It’s just an unfortunate situation.”
Billups was not named in a separate investigation targeting illegal sports betting, but an unidentified co-conspirator in that case matched his description — a former NBA player from 1997-2014 who has been an NBA coach since at least 2021 (the year Billups was hired by the Trail Blazers) and resides in Oregon.
The federal indictment alleges that, before a game on March 24, 2023, the co-conspirator informed one of the defendants in the case, Eric Earnest, “that the Trail Blazers were going to be tanking” and sitting several of their best players “to increase their odds of getting a better pick in the upcoming NBA draft.” This information allegedly was relayed to Earnest before it became public, leading associates of Earnest to place more than $100,000 in bets against Portland.
Simons, a Trail Blazers starter at the time, was one of the players who did not play in the game, which Portland lost 124-96. He said he was aware of any message to tank while he was with the franchise.
“Not to my knowledge,” Simons said. “We get told to play. We’re not charged by the minutes, you know what I mean? So you just play until you come out of the game, or you don’t play. So it was really that simple. I don’t think I was told anything to me in general.”
Billups, a Basketball Hall of Famer who signed a multi-year contract extension earlier this year, was placed on leave following his arrest and replaced by interim head coach Thiago Splitter. The Blazers had just played their season opener one night earlier.
“I texted (former Blazers teammate Damian Lillard) when stuff happened,” Simons said. “I just asked if everybody was all right in the situation. It’s tough, you know what I mean? You played one game, and your coach is not there no more. You went to training camp and all this stuff, and he was the coach, and now he’s not anymore. So that could be tough on players dealing with that at the beginning of the season. That’s definitely a tough situation to be in. But I’ll gradually check in on everybody and see how they’re doing about the situation and see how they handle it. But I think they’re a pretty resilient team, and they’ll get through it regardless.”
The sports betting probe also uncovered several other examples of NBA players or coaches allegedly relaying inside information to bettors, including one involving former Celtics guard Terry Rozier when he was a member of the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier was one of three current or former NBA players arrested Thursday, along with Billups and Damon Jones. (Jones was charged in both investigations.)
This scandal, Simons said, underscored how careful players need to be when discussing internal team matters with friends and acquaintances.
“It’s always been a topic,” the eighth-year pro said. “Obviously, gambling in the sports world is becoming a bigger thing, and we’ve just got to make sure the players are aware of all the risks of simple conversations with different people about the game or complicated information. And so you’ve just got to be careful with those conversations. So that’s what they tell us, because it can be a tricky situation when you feel like you’re having a casual conversation with a friend or a mutual friend, and they’re trying to get information out of you. So it’s a hard situation to be in. You’ve just got to be smart in that situation and know if it’s not public, don’t say it.”
NEW YORK — Celtics guard Anfernee Simons was stunned Thursday to learn that his former head coach had been arrested as part of a wide-ranging federal gambling investigation.
Chauncey Billups, Simons’ coach in Portland for the last four seasons, was one of more than 30 individuals charged in connection with an alleged Mafia-backed scheme to rig poker games. Billups was charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.
“It hit me pretty tough, for sure,” Simons, who was traded to Boston this offseason, said after Friday’s morning shootaround at Madison Square Garden. “Just in shock. And obviously, I’ve got a great relationship with Chauncey. Even after the trade, he’s checking in on me and I’m checking in on him. So we had a great relationship, and I think it’s an unfortunate situation for him to be in, especially for him and his family, all the media attention that’s coming in, the scrutiny. It’s just an unfortunate situation.”
Billups was not named in a separate investigation targeting illegal sports betting, but an unidentified co-conspirator in that case matched his description — a former NBA player from 1997-2014 who has been an NBA coach since at least 2021 (the year Billups was hired by the Trail Blazers) and resides in Oregon.
The federal indictment alleges that, before a game on March 24, 2023, the co-conspirator informed one of the defendants in the case, Eric Earnest, “that the Trail Blazers were going to be tanking” and sitting several of their best players “to increase their odds of getting a better pick in the upcoming NBA draft.” This information allegedly was relayed to Earnest before it became public, leading associates of Earnest to place more than $100,000 in bets against Portland.
Simons, a Trail Blazers starter at the time, was one of the players who did not play in the game, which Portland lost 124-96. He said he was aware of any message to tank while he was with the franchise.
“Not to my knowledge,” Simons said. “We get told to play. We’re not charged by the minutes, you know what I mean? So you just play until you come out of the game, or you don’t play. So it was really that simple. I don’t think I was told anything to me in general.”
Billups, a Basketball Hall of Famer who signed a multi-year contract extension earlier this year, was placed on leave following his arrest and replaced by interim head coach Thiago Splitter. The Blazers had just played their season opener one night earlier.
“I texted (former Blazers teammate Damian Lillard) when stuff happened,” Simons said. “I just asked if everybody was all right in the situation. It’s tough, you know what I mean? You played one game, and your coach is not there no more. You went to training camp and all this stuff, and he was the coach, and now he’s not anymore. So that could be tough on players dealing with that at the beginning of the season. That’s definitely a tough situation to be in. But I’ll gradually check in on everybody and see how they’re doing about the situation and see how they handle it. But I think they’re a pretty resilient team, and they’ll get through it regardless.”
The sports betting probe also uncovered several other examples of NBA players or coaches allegedly relaying inside information to bettors, including one involving former Celtics guard Terry Rozier when he was a member of the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier was one of three current or former NBA players arrested Thursday, along with Billups and Damon Jones. (Jones was charged in both investigations.)
This scandal, Simons said, underscored how careful players need to be when discussing internal team matters with friends and acquaintances.
“It’s always been a topic,” the eighth-year pro said. “Obviously, gambling in the sports world is becoming a bigger thing, and we’ve just got to make sure the players are aware of all the risks of simple conversations with different people about the game or complicated information. And so you’ve just got to be careful with those conversations. So that’s what they tell us, because it can be a tricky situation when you feel like you’re having a casual conversation with a friend or a mutual friend, and they’re trying to get information out of you. So it’s a hard situation to be in. You’ve just got to be smart in that situation and know if it’s not public, don’t say it.”
