Of all the squares on Portland’s “Let’s Get Rid of Trail Blazer Head Coach Chauncey Billups” bingo card—Mafia ties, extortion, and illegal gambling perhaps weren’t on the top of the list.
Last night—October 22, 2025—the Portland Trail Blazers played the Minnesota Timberwolves, losing the energetic home game 114 to 118. Though fashion icon Jerami Grant locked in for 24 points, Donovan Clingan sank a buzzer-beater, and Blazers' new hire Jrue Holiday earned his jersey, those aren’t the biggest bits of Rip City news this morning.
Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups was arrested this morning in Oregon in connection to a multi-year illegal gambling and sports-rigging operation involving several prominent East Coast Mafia crime families including the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese families. All four of these crime families are part of La Cosa Nostra—"Our Thing” in Italian, simply referred to as the Mafia in the US—a Sicilian crime syndicate active since the mid-19th century.
FBI Director Kash Patel explained in a press conference this morning that Billups and others around the NBA have been arrested on charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, crypto fraud, and illegal gambling.
Coach Billups—a five-time NBA All Star, inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2024—is being indicted in a case titled "the United States vs. Aiello," where the defendants are being accused of using “wireless cheating technology” to run rigged poker games in the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan. Victims of the illegal games were allegedly lured into play by the prospect of gambling alongside big names in the NBA, including Billups and former professional baller Damon Jones. Each game had the potential to swindle hundreds of thousands of dollars from their marks, with total takings estimated in the tens of millions. The operation has been dubbed “Royal Flush” by the FBI.
The investigation is ongoing, those with information about the cases are encouraged to contact the FBI.
Last night marked the beginning of Billups’ fifth season as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. He was offered the new position in 2021 despite fan concern and outrage regarding rape and assault accusations. As reported by OPB, the Portland Trail Blazers conducted a third party investigation into allegations dating back to 1997. It's unclear what extent the third party investigators went to before presenting their findings to Trail Blazers management, though the “Jane Doe” accuser was not contacted by the investigative team.
So what does Billups' arrest mean for the young Trail Blazers team?
Head coaching duties will likely fall, at least for the time being, to assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren, now in his second season in the position, and third season with the team overall. Bjorkgren comes with 17 years of professional basketball coaching experience, including a season as head coach for the Indiana Pacers.
This may also act as a fresh start for the Blazers, and an opportunity for the franchise to continue building a team of passionate young players, peppered with locked-in vets. The team’s incredible momentum showcased during the second half of the 24/25 season now has the potential to be catapulted leaps and bounds with the prospect of a new head coach at the helm, if the boys can stay focused through this obstacle.