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A day after the world learned Hall of Fame NBA coach Chauncey Billups and Heat guard Terry Rozier were allegedly wrapped up in a federal sports betting and gambling probe, NBA players are still grappling with the news.
Celtics guard Anfernee Simons, who was traded to Boston from Portland this past offseason, said Friday he was “in shock” when he learned Billups, his former coach, had been arrested by the FBI in connection with an underground Mafia-backed poker scheme.
“It hit me pretty tough, for sure,” Simons said after shootaround. “Obviously [I’ve got] a great relationship with Chauncey. Speaking even after the trade, he’s checking in on me, I’m checking in on him, and so we had a great relationship. And I think … it’s an unfortunate situation for him to be in, especially him and his family, all the media attention that’s coming in — the scrutiny — and it’s just an unfortunate situation.”
Celtics star Jaylen Brown said it’s hard to sort fact and fiction with the allegations that have been floating around.
While he said he’s still gathering the facts on the accusations, Brown called for the NBA to meet the National Basketball Players’ Association to discuss what can be done to better protect players from aggressive bettors.
Brown, who played with Rozier in Boston for the first three years of Brown’s career, said the accusations against Rozier are “not conducive to his character.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it as a union and figure out what the next step forward is,” said Brown, the vice president of the NBPA.
The NBA announced Thursday afternoon that Billups and Rozier were put on “immediate leave” as the league continues to review the bombshell indictments unsealed Thursday morning.
Billups is facing wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy in connection with a Mafia-backed underground poker ring, according to the indictment.
Rozier was accused in a separate scheme. He allegedly participated in an illegal sports betting scheme by using insider NBA knowledge.
Follow The Post’s latest on the gambling scandal rocking the NBA:
Billups was also believed to be an unnamed co-conspirator in the sports gambling indictment, allegedly telling a bettor the Trail Blazers would be tanking and sitting several of their best players in a March 24, 2023 game against the Bulls.
Four regular Portland starters, including Simons, didn’t play in that game, which the Trail Blazers lost by 28.
Simons said Friday he was unaware the Trail Blazers were tanking.
“We get told to play. Not in charge of the minutes, you know what I mean?” Simons said. “So you just play until you come out of the game or don’t play. So it was really that simple. I don’t think I was told anything.”
The legalization of sports betting has opened a Pandora’s box that has brought an onslaught of issues for players and questions regarding the integrity of the game.
“That whole [betting] world was introduced a couple years ago, and I don’t think [the league] took players into consideration, especially with the energy and behavior that goes around gambling and how that directly correlates with the players,” Brown said. “We don’t benefit from any of the profits and anything like that, but we got to deal with a lot of the extra negativity and scrutiny behind all the gambling stuff. And then on top of that, it creates more integrity issues.”
Simons said sports betting has “always been a topic” among players, team admins and the league. He also said players are frequently reminded not to share information with anyone until it’s public.
“Obviously gambling in the sports world is becoming a bigger thing, and we just got to make sure the players are aware of all the risks of simple conversations with different people about the game or confidential information, and so you just got to be careful in those conversations,” Simons said. “It’s a hard situation to be in, you just got to be smart in that situation and know if it’s not public, don’t say it.”
