The FBI evidence that will forever sink Chauncey Billups' legacy

We tell you about the FBI's accusation against Chauncey Billups. On March 24, 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Chicago Bulls played a seemingly inconsequential game in the final stretch of the NBA regular season. However, that game, which involved two teams with low aspirations—Portland with a record of 32-40 and Chicago with 34-38— has become the focus of a broad federal investigation into illegal sports betting that implicates several NBA players and figures of organized crime.

According to the accusation, the game between Blazers and Bulls is a cornerstone of a case that could have deep repercussions in the league. The file mentions that an individual identified as "Co-Conspirator 8" informed one of the accused, Eric Earnest, that Portland planned to "tank," that is, intentionally lose to improve their position in the draft lottery. Before the news became public, this informant told Earnest that several of the team's top players would not play the game.

Earnest shared the information with another accused, Marves Fairley, with the intention of betting against the Blazers. Fairley promised Earnest a reward of at least $5,000 if the bets were successful. Together with another involved, Shane Hennen, and an NBA player identified as "Co-Conspirator 1", they placed bets totaling about $100,000 against Portland.

The course of the game confirmed the predictions: the Bulls won decisively by 124-96. Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, and Jusuf Nurkic—the top four scorers for the Blazers that season— did not play. Lillard and Nurkic had been sidelined from the team just after the previous game against Utah. Portland ended the season with the fifth-best odds in the draft lottery and eventually secured the third pick, in a draft led by Victor Wembanyama.

The main mystery of the case is the identity of "Co-Conspirator 8". The legal document describes him as a "resident of Oregon," a "former NBA player between 1997 and 2014," and a "league coach since 2021." All this information matches the profile of Chauncey Billups, the current coach of the Trail Blazers, who has also been implicated in another federal case related to an illegal poker network.

Billups, arrested on Thursday in Portland, faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and electronic fraud. The NBA has immediately removed him from his position as the judicial process progresses. According to the court, he must surrender his passport and cannot leave Oregon or Colorado before his next hearing scheduled for November 24 in Brooklyn.

The FBI is clear about Billups

Legal experts point out that a "co-conspirator" may not be identified in the accusation for several reasons: to reinforce the idea of conspiracy, protect a collaborator, or reserve the possibility of future charges. In this case, the government seems to have a solid case file after years of FBI investigation.

The game between the Blazers and Bulls is not the only one implicated: matches between the Hornets and Pelicans (March 23, 2023) and Magic and Cavaliers (April 6, 2023) are also under investigation. Among the accused are Charlotte player Terry Rozier and Cleveland assistant Damon Jones, pointing towards a scandal of unprecedented proportions in recent NBA history.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Las pruebas del FBI que hundirán para siempre el legado de Chauncey Billups