Bada bing

Wow! The Portland Trail Blazers were at the top of every news feed in the country this morning.

Now the bad news: It was because their head coach, Chauncey Billups, has been indicted and arrested on federal felony charges in connection with an alleged Mafia-rigged poker game operation. And there's a chance that Billups may also be an unnamed, unindicted co-conspirator in connection with federal charges against others regarding alleged insider gambling on Trail Blazer games back in March 2023. As this blog bemoaned, the team at that point was tanking away the season to improve their position in the player draft.

If you were reading here four years ago when the Blazers brought Billups in – at the pouty suggestion of star player Damian Lillard – you know I've never been a fan. Chauncey arrived with a bad reputation involving allegations of sexual assault. And since then, the team has been awful. His record as a coach has been 117 wins and 212 losses. The front office's player personnel moves haven't helped, but to me, Billups was never qualified for a pro head coach job, and still isn't. Every time I hear some announcer say "Coach Billups," I have to laugh.

It's all academic now. His career may very well be over, as he serves out a "leave" of unspecified duration under accusations of being seriously mobbed up. Some are speculating that Billups may have been cooperating with the authorities on the basketball betting case. That might clean up his image somewhat, but not nearly enough to keep him around the league.

This incident is surely just the tip of an extremely ugly iceberg. There's so much gambling now on every sport, on every play, on every level, that there will be no stopping the corruption. The NBA commissioner is bleating today, as he always does, about "the integrity of our game." Ha! Ha! He's dreaming.

For the Blazer faithful – and I didn't count myself in that dwindling crowd these last few years – it's an important moment in history. Who knows? Maybe it will lead to better days. But I tend to doubt it. The team's future is already under a cloud due to the recent, thinly veiled demand that the taxpayers build it a new arena. That was threatening enough; today's news isn't soothing any nerves.

One has to wonder how much about all this gambling brouhaha the current owner, Jody Allen, knew when she was negotiating a sale of the team, a transaction that is currently pending. And even more interesting, how much the buyer group was told – or knows now, for that matter.

I'll end this like they always did on Cops: An indictment is just an accusation. In our system of justice, criminal defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. So stock up on the popcorn; this could get more interesting than a Blazer game.

UPDATE: The New York Post has some fascinating photos here.

UPDATE, Sunday: Another Post story is here. Great journalism.