Speaking before the Clippers' 114-107 win against the Trail Blazers on Sunday, Lue said that Billups has been like a brother to him since he was 17, and that he is the godfather to Billups' three daughters. "It's hard to process," Lue said. "You hate to see him go through something like this, along with his three girls, who are my goddaughters, and his wife, Piper. "I believe in Chauncey's character. I know who he is as a person. I've been with him since I was 17 years old. So, it's just hard to see something like this happen. He has my love and support always."

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Speaking before the Clippers' 114-107 win against the Trail Blazers on Sunday, Lue said that Billups has been like a brother to him since he was 17, and that he is the godfather to Billups' three daughters. "It's hard to process," Lue said. "You hate to see him go through something like this, along with his three girls, who are my goddaughters, and his wife, Piper. "I believe in Chauncey's character. I know who he is as a person. I've been with him since I was 17 years old. So, it's just hard to see something like this happen. He has my love and support always." ESPN | Oct. 27, 2025

Omari Sankofa II: JB Bickerstaff on Chauncey Billups: "He’s a friend of mine. I’ve known him since I was in seventh grade. I care about him immensely and I hate to see what he’s going through right now … everyone needs to allow the due process to happen and then obviously judgements can be made." Bluesky | Oct. 26, 2025

It seems silly to think about what all this means for the on-court product, but hey, the product is ultimately why we are here. The players, I suspect, will be fine. Since they’ve been kids, the court has been their sanctuary. Dribbling and shooting has been their release from the chaos of our world. “Part of the NBA is just … keep playing. We are all here for basketball … focus on that,” Blazers forward Deni Avdija said before Friday’s home game against the Golden State Warriors, the team’s first since Billups’ arrest. “It’s not an easy situation. We are thinking about him and his family. We really love Chauncey and what he has done for this organization.” New York Times | Oct. 25, 2025

When you are around teams — and coaches — throughout a season, you can see some ugly sides to people. This is a tense and volatile arena, and these are some proud and egotistical people. But of all the coaches I’ve dealt with in my 28 years around the Blazers, nobody was more pleasant. He was never short or snappy. Not once has he been condescending. And he always went above and beyond when it came to insightful answers or observations. New York Times | Oct. 25, 2025

It will be a long time before the Portland Trail Blazers can process the predawn arrest Thursday of coach Chauncey Billups in a federal investigation related to rigged poker games allegedly backed by the Mafia. But the process of moving forward began Friday as they played their first game under interim coach Tiago Splitter, and the Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors 139-119 at the Moda Center. "Honestly, it is a tough moment," said Splitter, a former player for the San Antonio Spurs whose only head coaching experience before Friday was in the Euro League with Paris Basketball last season. "I mean, we all had great experience with Chauncey, and we are thinking of him and his family. But we have a job to do, and we have to move forward." ESPN | Oct. 25, 2025

Some of those games, the indictment says, paid protection money to La Cosa Nostra, who also collected debts. The Trail Blazers played hard against the Wolves last night, led most of the game, showed real improvement, and then lost their head coach to a double-whammy of federal handcuffs and NBA suspension today. The main poker allegation concerning Chauncey Billups is that: “In furtherance of the Rigged Poker Scheme, in or around April 2019, several of the defendants participated in Rigged Games in Las Vegas, Nevada, at which they defrauded Victims of at least $50,000. The defendants CHAUNCEY BILLUPS, ERIC EARNEST, JAMIE GILET, ROBERT STROUD and SOPHIA WEI organized and participated in these Rigged Games using a Rigged Shuffling Machine supplied by STROUD.” TrueHoop | Oct. 25, 2025

Chris Haynes: Sources: Inside a somber meeting the Portland Trail Blazers had that left players mute. How the news of Chauncey Billups’ alleged involvement in an illegal gambling ring was delivered to the team. Chris Haynes: Let's go back to yesterday morning. Sources informed me that Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin gathered his team together along with the coaching staff to inform them of the news. Sources told me that players were mute. They were shocked, and no one had a question. It was that quiet. Joe Cronin then went on to say that no one should be trying to contact Chauncey Billups while this investigation is ongoing. From there sources related to me that Tiago Splitter took the floor and said the goals remain the same and he also added that he's in charge, and he wants to keep everything afloat until they get their coach back. And last thing of note I want to add is that the Trail Blazers actually offered the interim job to assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren, but him and Chauncey Billups are extremely tight, and he declined the appointment. Twitter @ChrisBHaynes | Oct. 25, 2025

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Tyronn Lue: 'I believe in Chauncey's character'

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