MVP (and First Team All-NBA)

• 1. Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Thunder
• 2. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets
• 3. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
• 4. Luka Doncic, Lakers
• 5. Cade Cunningham, Pistons

This is a safe space, Nuggets fans. You can let it all out. I’ll be your punching bag if it makes you feel better. But I’ll just remind you I was part of the minority when I voted for Jokic over SGA last year. () And I’ll direct you to Jokic’s own assessment of his 2025-26 season, when I asked him recently how it compares to the previous year, when he said he was “playing the best basketball of my life.”

“I think for me, it was a little bit inconsistent,” he said this time. “Just because injury, and then it was the first time I was coming back from (an) injury. … I think before injury, I played really, really high-level basketball. And since injury, it’s so-so.”

That was on March 25, with three weeks remaining in the regular season. You can argue he had turned a corner by then — though you might have to ignore his 10 turnovers in a loss to the tanking Grizzlies a week earlier — but the point is that for at least two and a half months of the season, Jokic simply wasn’t a relevant enough part of the MVP conversation. A hyperextended left knee sidelined him in January. His first few weeks back on the court hindered him in February, not to mention a flare-up of discomfort in his right wrist that he was determined to play through. He was a pedestrian 3-point shooter for the last 33 games after his return from the knee injury. He had a tendency to play loose with the ball, finishing with a turnover rate 2.5% higher than last season and a worse assist-to-turnover ratio. I would not describe this as his most active defensive season either, in part due to his coaching staff’s inclination to save his energy for the playoffs (a worthwhile trade-off).

If it sounds like I’m just a hater ragging on a Denver sports icon, please keep in mind that my ballot still reflects the stance that Jokic was the second-best player in the NBA this season �����辱�ٱ���those months. That’s how automatically impactful his presence on the court is, even when he “struggles.” But the margins narrowed this season as Gilgeous-Alexander continued to improve as both a scorer and playmaker. Averaging 31.1 points on 55.3% shooting from the field and 66.5% true shooting (within 0.5% of Jokic) on a guard’s shot diet is ridiculous. That’s the efficiency of a 7-footer whose only shot attempts are pick-and-roll lobs and other easy chances around the rim. Consider also that SGA’s burden as a shot creator was heightened this year by wingman Jalen Williams missing 50 games, and that OKC still had a 121.5 offensive rating with him on the floor (11.1 points per 100 better than without him).

I maintain that Jokic is the best basketball player on the planet because his versatility at the center position is revolutionary and his highs are higher than anybody else’s (at least for now, until Victor Wembanyama catches up). But Gilgeous-Alexander’s metronomic consistency made him the best and most valuable player to his team this regular season.

Second Team All-NBA

• Kawhi Leonard, Clippers
• Jaylen Brown, Celtics
• Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers
• Jamal Murray, Nuggets
• Tyrese Maxey, 76ers

I’ll make a few very brief notes on the rest of my ballot as I go. Leonard was originally penciled in as my fifth-place MVP vote and last First-Team All-NBA selection, until an arbitrator unexpectedly ruled in favor of Cunningham being eligible for awards despite not playing 65 games. Leonard barely crossed the threshold himself (and Cunningham actually played more minutes), so it’s not like there was some chasm between them in availability. I almost talked myself into keeping Leonard fifth anyway, but Cunningham’s season was unimpeachable. He had an absolutely profound winning impact on a top-seeded team that doesn’t exactly have awesome spacing or secondary shot creation around him.

Props to Murray, who would have been my unofficial seventh-place MVP vote if Doncic and Cunningham had both been deemed ineligible. Even with those two guys allowed on the ballot, the Nuggets guard was comfortably on my Second Team.

Third Team All-NBA

• Chet Holmgren, Thunder
• Jalen Brunson, Knicks
• Kevin Durant, Rockets
• Jalen Johnson, Hawks
• Jalen Duren, Pistons

Coach of the Year

• 1. Joe Mazzulla, Celtics
• 2. JB Bickerstaff, Pistons
• 3. Tiago Splitter, Trail Blazers

This was one of the most difficult awards on the ballot for me this year. There are a ton of coaches around the league right now deserving of recognition. Also strongly considered: San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson, Phoenix’s Jordan Ott, Toronto’s Darko Rajakovic, Charlotte’s Charles Lee, Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault and Denver’s David Adelman (54 wins despite all those injuries?). Ultimately leaned Splitter, who had perhaps the most unfavorable situation in the NBA this year, taking over for Chauncey Billups on opening day, and coached the Blazers to the playoffs in a tough Western Conference. Will Portland’s cost-cutting new owner pay him a wage commensurate to his accomplishments?

Most Improved Player

• 1. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Hawks
• 2. Jalen Duren, Pistons
• 3. Collin Gillespie, Suns

Gillespie didn’t make the cut as a finalist, but would you have ever guessed when he was on a two-way contract in Denver that he would someday break a franchise’s single-season record for most 3-pointers? He’s a point guard by nature, but he also was 47.4% on catch-and-shoot 3s this season. In general, he handled his increased responsibility in Phoenix with incredible poise, starting 58 games for a surprise playoff team after having played only 57 in his NBA career before 2025-26.

Sixth Man of the Year

• 1. Keldon Johnson, Spurs
• 2. Jaime Jaquez, Heat
• 3. Tim Hardaway Jr., Nuggets

Three worthy candidates in a year without an obvious winner. Johnson’s energy is inextricable from his team’s identity in addition to his statistical contributions off the bench, so he gets the nod from me in a squeaker. Also strongly considered: Minnesota’s Ayo Dosunmu, OKC’s Ajay Mitchell and New York’s Mitchell Robinson, until I realized he didn’t meet the 65-game rule.

Clutch Player of the Year

• 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
• 2. Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves
• 3. Jamal Murray, Nuggets

SGA’s likely win in this category will reinforce his MVP candidacy. He was fantastic in the biggest moments all season.

Defensive Player of the Year (and First Team All-Defense)

• 1. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
• 2. Chet Holmgren, Thunder
• 3. Rudy Gobert, Timberwolves
• Ausar Thompson, Pistons
• Scottie Barnes, Raptors

Second Team All-Defense

• Cason Wallace, Thunder
• Derrick White, Celtics
• OG Anunoby, Knicks
• Stephon Castle, Spurs
• Amen Thompson, Rockets

Rookie of the Year (and First Team All-Rookie)

• 1. Kon Knueppel, Hornets
• 2. Cooper Flagg, Mavericks
• 3. VJ Edgecombe, 76ers
• Dylan Harper, Spurs
• Ace Bailey, Jazz

I’ve seen the school of thought that Flagg should be bestowed this honor because he’s likely to have the better overall career than Knueppel. That may well be true, but Rookie of the Year is about this year, not the next 10 to 20. This was deservedly a tight race nonetheless, and I have no qualms with Flagg winning if that indeed comes to pass. But for a rookie to lead the NBA in 3s is truly remarkable, and Knueppel’s sharpshooting ability had ripple effects across the overall execution of Charlotte’s offense en route to the Play-In Tournament. His poor performance in the Play-In is not supposed to be counted against him, and it certainly was not on my ballot.

Second Team All-Rookie

• Cedric Coward, Grizzlies
• Maxime Raynaud, Kings
• Derik Queen, Pelicans
• Ryan Kalkbrenner, Hornets
• Jeremiah Fears, Pelicans

Nuggets leaders at their best

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray continued to carry their team on the road, like star players are supposed to do. Murray started fast, scoring 23 of his team-leading 34 points in the first quarter. On a night his 3-pointer wasn’t falling like it was in the last two wins, he got to the rim and found space in the midrange. He also didn’t force bad decisions throughout the game as Charlotte’s focus shifted to him, tallying six assists and no turnovers on a 14-for-25 shooting night.

Jokic went for 28 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists, passing Michael Jordan and tying Chauncey Billups for 51st on the all-time list. Next up for him to catch is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who’s 24 assists ahead with 5,660.

The Nuggets center has been playing with a trifecta of fresh red scratches across his upper right arm this week, as if a grizzly bear got ahold of him. The culprit? Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, Jokic says. But the plot twist is that “I fouled (him).”

The 30-year-old also denied the notion that it’s one of his gnarliest scratches of his career, despite how it looks. “I’ve had a couple of good ones,” he said.

Opponents are launching 3s

Throughout the league, increased 3-point volume has been a major talking point in recent years. It’s no longer out of the ordinary to see a team attempt 40 in a game. But the Nuggets are allowing 38.5 attempts per game, eighth-most in the league this season. With a defense that often shrinks to protect the interior, they’ve been floating around the top-10 in fewest paint points allowed per game. But the ball often gets funneled to the perimeter, as was the case in Charlotte.

The Hornets went 14 of 46 from deep, becoming Denver’s fifth opponent in the last seven games to attempt 42 or more 3-pointers. Those shots enabled them to keep up with Denver’s high-powered offense early in the game, but eventually, the well dried out, like it did for the Hawks on Friday.

The Nuggets can be smart about who they leave open and close out with high effort, of course, but even that can be risky in a league where there’s a premium on 3-point shooting. They’re currently giving up 20.4 wide open 3-point tries per game, according to league data, which is the ninth-most. Fortunately for them, opponents are a pedestrian 34.2% on those looks — the second-lowest clip against any team on wide-open 3s. (Only the Warriors are luckier.)

Ultimately, the Nuggets will never turn down a game with fewer than 110 points allowed. Charlotte’s 106 were the fewest a team has scored against Denver since Indiana on Nov. 8.

Best start in franchise history

The Nuggets improved to 17-6 with the perfect three-game road trip — their winningest first 23 games of a season ever. They’re on a 60.6-win pace, which remains on track to break the franchise record of 57.

They’re about to enter an awkward portion of the NBA calendar that will allow them to rest before a road-heavy January. Eliminated from the NBA Cup, Denver will get three days off before facing Sacramento in a “replacement game,” another three days off before hosting Houston, then two more days off before the normal schedule resumes.

NEW YORK (AP) — Portland Trail Blazers coach, basketball Hall of Famer and former Denver Nuggets player Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges he profited from rigged poker games involving several Mafia figures and at least one other former NBA player.

Feds allege Chauncey Billups was ‘face card’ in high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker scam

The five-time All Star, who won a championship with the Detroit Pistons, was arraigned in a federal court in New York City on money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy charges, both of which carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. Some of Billups’ co-defendants are also charged with running an illegal gambling business and engaging in an extortion conspiracy.

Chris Heywood, his attorney, has said Billups is a “man of integrity” and denies the charges.

“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall of Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game,” Heywood said after Billups appeared in federal court in Portland, Oregon, when prosecutors first announced the indictment on Oct. 23.

Billups wore a dark gray suit during the brief arraignment and spoke only to answer the judge’s yes or no questions. He has been free on bond since his initial court appearance in Oregon.

Billups was arguably the most prominent name among more than 30 charged in last month’s sprawling of illegal gambling operations linked to professional sports. The other defendants were also expected to appear in the Brooklyn court for Monday’s proceedings, in which the judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers will likely discuss next steps in the case.

Prosecutors say the 49-year-old Denver native, who was into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame last year, was involved in a scheme to rig Mafia-backed illegal poker games in Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami and the Hamptons.

Former NBA player and assistant coach was also nabbed in that alleged scheme, which prosecutors say utilized a range of sophisticated technology that allowed the gambling to be rigged, such as altered card-shuffling machines, hidden cameras in poker chip trays, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table to read cards.

Jones was also charged along with Miami Heat guard in a separate scheme at the same time that allowed gamblers to about players to win bets on NBA games.

Prosecutors say the poker scheme Billups was involved in defrauded victims of an estimated $7 million starting in at least 2019.

They say he served as a celebrity “face card” that could draw wealthy, unsuspecting players to the games. Prosecutors said during one game, the scheme’s organizers exchanged messages saying one of the victims “acted like he wanted Chauncey to have his money” because he was “star struck.”

Prosecutors say Billups, who earned about $106 million from his playing days, received a portion of the ill-gotten gains. After one rigged game in October 2020, for example, they say he was directly wired $50,000.

The scheme organizers also had to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno mob families for operating within the illegal poker games run by the New York criminal enterprises, prosecutors said.

Mafia members, in turn, helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, they said.

Billups was selected as the third overall pick in the 1997 draft by the Boston Celtics after starring in college for the Colorado Buffaloes. He played 17 years in the NBA, with stints with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.

But he is perhaps in the Motor City, where he earned the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” for his knack of making clutch shots.

Billups was named the NBA Finals MVP during the Pistons’ title run in 2004 and had his No. 1 jersey retired by the team.

After retiring in 2014, Billups embarked on a career as a TV analyst before pivoting to coaching.

He was hired as Portland’s coach in 2021 and signed a with the Trail Blazers earlier this year after the team missed out on the playoffs for the fourth straight season in 2024. Billups previously served as an assistant coach on the Los Angeles Clippers.

After his arrest, he was placed on and the Trail Blazers named assistant coach and former NBA player Tiago Splitter as .

Embattled will not receive his salary from the Miami Heat while on leave because of his arrest on federal charges related to a gambling scheme, two people with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Feds allege Chauncey Billups was ‘face card’ in high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker scam

Rozier’s salary — about $26.6 million this season, paid in installments, the first for this season having been due later this week — will be held pending resolution of the legal case, said the people, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the details were not released publicly.

The Heat will not receive any immediate salary cap relief by the NBA’s decision, one of the sources said. If Rozier is cleared and allowed to return to the NBA, which placed him on leave hours after his Oct. 23 arrest, he could receive the held payments in full, one of the sources said.

There are provisions in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that allow the league, in certain situations, to place salary withheld from a player in an interest-bearing account.

Portland coach Chauncey Billups, who has also been placed on leave by the league after his arrest on gambling-related charges last week, is having his salary held by the Trail Blazers as well, one of the sources said. Billups is under contract into at least the 2026-27 season; the team announced that he agreed to a multiyear extension in April.

There was no immediate comment from either the Heat or the Trail Blazers.

Meanwhile, Rozier’s attorney said Wednesday that a federal lien filed with regard to the player’s tax bill in 2021 was satisfied.

The Internal Revenue Service filed that lien against Rozier in November 2023, showing an “unpaid balance of assessment” of $8,218,211.70 for the 2021 tax year. But Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, said in an email to the AP that the actual amount owed to the IRS at that time was a sliver of that total.

“There was never a debt of $8 million,” Trusty wrote. “Out of his total taxes owed in 2021 ($8m) he actually owed $9000. That was paid but the now-defunct lien still needs to be pulled from the local courthouse.”

ESPN first reported the lien’s existence. The lien is a public record, and there is no publicly available document showing it has been removed.

Officials in Broward County, Florida — where the lien was filed — did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A call seeking information from an IRS revenue officer was unanswered. Revenue officers work for the IRS to collect delinquent taxes.

Rozier owns a home in Broward County and records show his property taxes have been paid in full each year. That property is about 30 miles from where the Heat play their home games.

Rozier was playing for the Charlotte Hornets during that 2021 tax year and is now on the Heat roster. He, Billups and nearly three dozen other individuals were arrested last week on gambling-related charges detailed in two separate indictments.

Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, has denied the allegations against his client.

Federal officials alleged that Rozier conspired with associates to help them win bets in a game when he was with the Hornets on March 23, 2023 — more than seven months before the lien was prepared and nearly eight months before it was formally filed. Rozier played sparingly in that game and gamblers who wagered that he would finish “under” certain statistical totals won those bets.

The charges against Rozier are similar to what former Toronto player faced before he was banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver in 2024.

Rozier did not play in the final eight games of that 2022-23 season, with he and the Hornets citing a foot injury. The Hornets had several players injured at that time and were already eliminated from playoff contention.

Sportsbooks detected unusual patterns of wagers on the Charlotte game in question — prop bets involving Rozier were flagged and immediately brought to the NBA’s attention — and the league probed the matter but did not find enough evidence to conclude that Rozier broke any rules. The NBA, unlike federal law enforcement, does not have subpoena power.

Trusty has said Rozier is “not a gambler” and looks forward to winning the case.

that it is reviewing how sensitive information like injury reports — which are public and updated hourly — should be handled going forward. Members of the House and Senate have both asked the NBA for more information.

Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on that panel, wrote Silver this week seeking detail “about how the NBA investigated and handled these allegations” and why the NBA allowed Rozier to continue playing.

His ability to bounce back and make all the right moves is being put to an entirely different test by a .

Billups, who was placed on leave as coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was one of more than 30 people arrested last week for what federal law enforcement officials described as their involvement in various illicit gambling activities. The coach was alleged to have participated in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes games with ties to three Mafia families. He also matches the credentials of someone described only as Co-Conspirator 8 in an indictment detailing how some people gave bettors inside information on player health statuses.

“My message to the defendants who’ve been rounded up today is this: Your winning streak has ended,” Joseph Nocella, the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, said in outlining the charges.

Billups’ alleged involvement was stunning for someone with a sterling reputation, earning the NBA’s sportsmanship award in 2009 while playing for his hometown Denver Nuggets.

Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, who calls Billups his best friend, said he spoke with Billups on the day he was arrested and was encouraged by what he heard during the conversation.

Detroit said he hates to see what Billups is going through as a friend he has had since middle school.

“I think everyone needs to allow due process to happen, and then obviously judgments can be made,” Bickerstaff said on Sunday. “You feel for anyone you’ve known and have a relationship with and know his family well.

“I know he’s going through it,” he added. “It����ap a difficult time for him.”

‘Pressure is nothing new to me’

Billups, who is married and has three daughters, was arrested at his home in Oregon before dawn last Thursday. Hours earlier, the Trail Blazers at home to Minnesota. After tipping off his fifth season in Portland, Billups was asked if he felt pressure because the franchise’s attended the game.

“That pressure thing is nothing to me, man,” Billups said in his on Oct. 22. “I do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may. You know that about me by now.”

Billups appeared before a judge in Oregon, and was released from custody on conditions. His attorney, Chris Heywood, denied the allegations.

“To believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his Hall of Fame legacy, his reputation and his freedom,” Heywood said. “He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game.”

The 49-year-old Billups grew up in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood and starred in college for the Colorado Buffaloes.

Boston drafted him No. 3 overall in 1997 and he bounced around the league, getting traded during his rookie year twice more over the next two years.

Billups signed with Minnesota in 2000 as a free agent and after two solid seasons, he leveraged his value to sign a $35 million, six-year contract with the Pistons.

Billups was known as Mr. Big Shot

He was known as Mr. Big Shot because of his knack of making clutch shots in the Motor City, where he found his groove as a player and later had his No. 1 Pistons jersey retired as one of the most popular players in any sport in Michigan.

Billups guided Detroit to its third NBA championship in 2004 and the NBA Finals the following year during a run of six straight appearances in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Pistons later traded him to Denver for his second stint with the franchise. After Billups went on to play for the New York Knicks and Clippers, he closed his five-time All-Star career in Detroit during the 2013-14 season with more than $100 million in earnings.

Billups started his career as a TV analyst the next year, a role he gave up to pursue a coaching career with the Clippers under Lue. He was hired as Portland’s coach in 2021 and signed a with the Trail Blazers last April and has a career 117-212 record as an coach in the league.

, in reaction to the arrests of Billups and Miami guard Terry Rozier for their alleged role in gambling schemes, has started a review of how the league can protect not just the integrity of the game but its players and coaches as well.

The league made those revelations in a memo sent to all 30 teams, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed.

The league made those revelations in a memo sent to all 30 teams, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

“Given the spread of legal betting to the majority of U.S. states, the recurrence of integrity issues across sports, and the emergence of novel betting formats and markets, this is an opportune time to carefully reassess how sports betting should be regulated and how sports leagues can best protect themselves, their players, and their fans,” read the memo, sent by the NBA’s legal department.

A pair of indictments were unsealed last week and nearly three dozen people were arrested by federal officials.

Rozier was arrested because federal officials allege he conspired with associates to help them win bets in a game played when he was with Charlotte on March 23, 2023. The charges are similar to what former Toronto player faced before he was banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver in 2024.

Sportsbooks detected unusual patterns of wagers on the Charlotte game in question — prop bets involving Rozier were flagged and immediately brought to the NBA’s attention — and the league probed the matter but did not find enough evidence to conclude that Rozier broke any rules.

“While the unusual betting on Terry Rozier’s ‘unders’ in the March 2023 game was detected in real time because the bets were placed legally, we believe there is more that can be done from a legal/regulatory perspective to protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliated leagues,” the league told its teams. “In particular, proposition bets on individual player performance involve heightened integrity concerns and require additional scrutiny.”

Among the things the league will take a look at: injury reports. The league publishes an injury report every hour, and teams are required to disclose statuses of players within certain windows of time before their next game. The NBA added the injury report several years ago in the interest of transparency.

The injury statuses can be used by bettors to decide which wagers to make — and if gamblers get that information before the rest of the public, it����ap tantamount to insider trading. Former NBA player Damon Jones now faces charges because officials said he tipped off bettors about the health status of two Los Angeles Lakers players. The details in that indictment clearly show that Jones was discussing the availability of LeBron James and former Lakers center Anthony Davis with bettors before their statuses for certain games was known publicly. There is no indication that James or Davis had any knowledge of what Jones was alleged to be doing.

There were other examples of such tipping with other clubs, federal officials said.

“With sports betting now occupying such a significant part of the current sports landscape, every effort must be made to ensure that players, coaches, and other NBA personnel are fully aware of the dire risks that gambling can impose upon their careers and livelihoods; that our injury disclosure rules are appropriate; and that players are protected from harassment from bettors,” the memo said.

The league also said it is seeking input from teams, if they have any ideas on how to best proceed going forward.

Full disclosure: There are a lot of things the Grading The Week staff will miss about life in the Mile High City without Michael Porter Jr. The hot streaks. The rebounding. The big heart off the court.

But when it comes to the Nuggets’ former foundational wing forward, we might miss his candor the most.

For better or worse, MPJ called it — and calls it — like he sees it.

Some of his truths are a little less, shall we say, politically correct than others, granted. But Mike is Mike. Take him or leave him.

In August, MPJ left us with something to ponder. Something deep. Only at the time, we didn’t know just how deep it was.

“Think about it,” Porter said in an appearance on the ‘One Night With Steiny’ podcast about six weeks ago. “If you could get all your homies rich by telling them, ‘Yo, bet $10,000 on my under this one game. I’m going to act like I’ve got an injury, and I’m going to sit out. I’m going to come out after three minutes.’  And they all get a little bag because you did it one game …

“That is so not OK. But some people probably think like that. They come from nothing, and all their homies have nothing.”

It’s not OK. At all. But it makes for a positively chilling — and prescient — read after the FBI indictments levied against Denver icon Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA guard Damon Jones earlier this week.

MPJ’s betting warning — B

MPJ warned the podcast audience, and us, that more gambling-related stories were coming out of the NBA’s inner circle.

The former Nugget has already lived through one of the bigger league scandals at a personal level. His younger brother Johntay was banned from the league for life in 2024 for admitting that he removed himself from two games in order to help those who had taken the “under” on his statistics.

“The enjoyment of the game isn’t for the game anymore,” MPJ said. “It’s so that people can make money. In reality, way more people are losing money than making money.”

To wit: MPJ’s brother reportedly was taking himself out in order to make some cash back to cover prior gambling debts.

It’s a tale, a sad one, as old as Eddie Cicotte, Art Schlichter and Pete Rose.

Only the landscape has changed. Leagues that eschewed sports betting companies are now business partners with them. DraftKings has a deal with the NBA. on Amazon Prime.

Once the Supreme Court opened the door for legalized sports betting in the United States in 2018, so many horses flew out of so many barns it might be too late to build fences — metaphorical or otherwise.

Thursday’s news might only be the tip of the iceberg, Porter inferred. And, even more chillingly, not just in the NBA.

“It’s bad,” MPJ said. “And it’s only going to get worse.”

He’s probably right about that, too. More’s the pity.

Avs’ Quebec throwbacks — A

On a sunnier note, Team GTW’s checking account is probably about to get a bit lighter. Our resident puck-heads have always had a sweet spot for the old World Hockey Association and its myriad of ghosts. (RIP, Denver Spurs. You, too, Michigan Stags. And Indianapolis Racers. And Cincinnati Stingers.)

So, yeah. Sign us up. Fleur-de-lis forever, baby.

Betting education has now hit Denver again — along with 31 other NFL teams — in the wake of a massive federal indictment that’s caught up several former NBA players and coaches. Chief among them is Denver native and former Nuggets star Chauncey Billups, who has been accused of participating in a Mafia-backed poker game that scammed players out of millions.

Asked Friday if the Broncos had conversations around prop bets, Payton said widespread news of the FBI’s investigation “hits heavy.” Billups stopped by training camp in Denver and Payton called the Portland Trail Blazers head coach a “close friend.”

“You hate it,” Payton said. “So, obviously – none of it����ap worth it.

“And when you look at it, like, the money’s, so,” Payton continued, trailing off. “But that����ap one of the challenges when you invite (gambling), when we made that flip. We gotta be pretty diligent on that.”

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported Friday that the NFL Players’ Association also sent out its own notice on gambling to players across the league, reminding players

Payton tight-lipped on fines: On Thursday, NFL executive president of football ops Troy Vincent in a slight kerfuffle with referee Brad Allen after Sunday’s game against New York. In a video capturing Dre Greenlaw’s chase of Allen that led to his one-game suspension, Strnad is also seen making apparent contact with Allen as a postgame celebration ensues.

Payton said he wouldn’t comment on the fine for Strnad and that he’d learned over the years that his opinion on such matters “doesn’t matter.” The Broncos head coach also said he was unaware of any NFL-imposed fines for him after he drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for running onto the field to contest a late pass-interference call in the fourth quarter.

“But thanks for bringing it to everyone’s attention,” Payton quipped at a reporter.

Children’s Hospital Colorado unveils new Payton-funded playground: Earlier in the week, the Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHC) .

Payton said he worked “heavily” with the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans — now known as the Manning Family Children’s — back in his time with the Saints, and he and Skylene had taken a tour of the CHC a year and a half ago.

“The outdoor playground was something that we thought would be fantastic,” Payton said Friday.

That’s because a somber cloud hung over the league on Thursday, after the arrests and federal indictments of an active player, Miami’s Terry Rozier, and a sitting head coach, Portland’s Chauncey Billups, in a wide-ranging FBI gambling investigation.

“It’s tough,” Nuggets guard Bruce Brown said Thursday morning before the team’s season opener. “I know Chauncey’s a great guy. I’ve hung around him a little bit. It’s just unfortunate.”

The indictments — particularly Rozier’s, which involved NBA players and coaches divulging nonpublic information to associates for the purpose of placing bets — raised another round of questions about the spread of such information and, more generally, the potential for corruption associated with the proliferation of online sports betting.

“It’s new, so it’s like anything else. When the world changes, there’s gonna be hiccups,” Adelman said Thursday evening. “People get themselves in tough situations. I think all you can do is just keep pounding the rock and just (emphasize), ‘Hey, you’ve gotta be careful and understand what this is.’

“(Betting) is such a part of our culture now and community, it’s not going anywhere. … You have to bring it up maybe more. Have more meetings about it. Mention it more throughout the year. Because you care about your players and you care about your staff, and you just don’t want to see them get in a tough situation.”

Rodney Billups, who is Chauncey’s brother, is an assistant coach on Adelman’s staff and remained with the team Thursday for its season opener in San Francisco. Adelman declined to go into detail about his interactions with Billups and whether he might step away from the team for personal reasons — but the head coach broadly stressed the importance of supporting his coworkers.

“Whatever Rodney needs for his family is all I care about,” Adelman said. “The situation itself, I only know what I’ve read. You guys know what I know. When your family member is affected by something, you have to support that person. Rodney has been nothing but great for us since he’s been here.”

Adelman and Warriors coach Steve Kerr both explained that the NBA facilitates meetings with each team about gambling and information disclosure. One example in Thursday’s indictment alleges that a co-conspirator told a bettor several Portland players would be sitting out a March 23, 2023, game as the Blazers were tanking for a better draft pick, allegedly leading to more than $100,000 in wagers that Portland would lose.

“They give us the guidelines of what it is,” Adelman said. “Obviously, a tricky situation with some of the ‘don’t text, don’t talk,’ that kind of stuff. You’ve just gotta be careful in casual conversation with what you say. That’s the only level of it I know. They give us all the advice about it.”

“I feel very comfortable sharing details because the league is really adamant about this stuff,” Kerr said. “Every team has to listen closely and hear everything, and a big part of that meeting was, (if) you tell one of your friends that ‘so and so is not playing’ and then that person tells someone else, you are liable. We know this.”

Players also deal with an increased proximity to emboldened, aggressive fans on the internet stemming from the gambling industry.

“Obviously, after every game, we get DMs about not hitting people’s parlays,” Brown said. “… There’s been games where I’ve been called every name in the book, just because I didn’t hit a 3 or two. I mean, that’s just the state of the game we’re in, since sports betting (became) legal. So I mean, just kind of deal with it. Not think about it. Don’t check your DMs after games.”

The arrest of Billups marks the second time in as many years that a Nuggets player or coach has had a sibling embroiled in a criminal case involving betting. Michael Porter Jr. was on the team in 2024 when his younger brother Jontay Porter became the first active player banned from the NBA for gambling-related reasons in 70 years.

In the case of Billups and Rozier, much remains unclear as lawyers representing both released statements Thursday expressing their intention to fight the FBI’s charges.

“For me to have an opinion of my shock value would be unfair to the people involved in it,” Adelman said. “The defendants and then obviously the federal government. … I just hope it plays out correctly, in the right way. I care about the people involved that I know. It’s a tricky situation, and I’m just hoping for the best for everybody. This is not how we want to start the season in the NBA.”

Had to close my jaw and rub my eyes after what I read next.

Chauncey Billups, the greatest basketball player our state has ever known, was charged Thursday morning with participating in a series of rigged poker games organized by Mafia families that cheated victims out of at least $7.15 million.

Read that last sentence again. Billups arrested, gambling, cheating — almost a year to the day he was enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

There are few surprises anymore. This news left me stunned.

David Adelman after Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier arrests connected to sports gambling: ‘Just hoping for the best for everybody’

Billups was always a great player, dating back to when I covered him winning the state championship for George Washington High School as a sophomore in 1993. But he was also one of the good guys, someone easy to talk with about hoops or his favorite football players when he attended Broncos practice during training camp.

He was Colorado. The King of Park Hill. Mr. Big Shot. He stood for clutch, character, toughness. Mention his name, and proud smiles followed.

Trying to reconcile that man with the person who was arrested early Thursday morning and appeared in a Portland courtroom flanked by attorneys a few hours later remains jarring.

"I was shocked. I have been very sad. I am hoping that this is a misunderstanding, a minimal situation where he can find a safe place to go on to have a great life," said former Nuggets coach George Karl of Billups, who led Denver to the Western Conference Finals in the 2008-09 season. "He is one of the best leaders, if not best leader, I have ever been around. Great with the team, great one-on-one. He was so mentally strong. I don't know if I have cried today, but I have been really, really down."

Billups is innocent until proven guilty. But this is serious stuff. He turned over his passport and his travel is restricted to Colorado and Oregon. His next court appearance is Nov. 24 in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Between now and then, perhaps we will learn more. As is, the details of the indictment, coined "Operation Royal Flush," are damning.

Billups is accused of being a "face card" that organized crime figures used to lure gamblers into two underground card games, in April 2019 and October 2020, taking advantage of participants who were attracted by his celebrity. He would then receive part of the criminal proceeds, the feds claim.

The games were deemed fixed because of rigged shuffling machines, decoy phones, card markers only visible through special glasses and "electronic poker chip trays that could secretly read cards," the indictment states.

Why would Billups put himself in this position? Did he know the games traced back to the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno mafia crime families? Did they have leverage on him?

I am inclined to give Billups the benefit of the doubt based on the person I know. But nothing about this makes sense. His involvement. The risk.

Billups served as a game analyst for Los Angeles Clippers broadcasts during that time, and had made it known he wanted to work in the NBA as a coach or in a front office.

Why jeopardize that dream?

It was bad judgment at the very least to associate with people with nicknames like "Albanian Bruce," "Flapper Poker" and "Spanish G."

The second criminal case announced by the feds is more problematic, involving NBA players and coaches selling nonpublic information about games and players to gamblers who then used that inside information to place bets. Co-conspirator 8, per the indictment, told a bettor that several of the Trail Blazers' best players would be sitting out against the Chicago Bulls on March 24, 2023. That conspirator has credentials that match Billups' playing and coaching career.

As if tilted card games were not enough.

If proven, such insider trading will get Billups banned for life from the NBA. And likely prevent him from working at the high school or collegiate level.

"Shock. Dismay. Denial. Can't be real," said Altitude Sports' Vic Lombardi, who covered Billups' prep-to-pros career. "I am heartbroken."

If the allegations are true, Billups has not just committed fraud, but betrayed those who trusted him the most, like the kids who have attended the Porter-Billups Leadership Academy since he joined forces with the former Regis College legend Lonnie Porter in 2006.

"I am speechless," former CBS sports reporter Mark McIntosh said. "It flies in the face of everything I have known about Chauncey and his family."

It is hard to come to terms with the accusations.

Athletes throwing away their careers because of drinking, drugs or gambling is nothing new.

Billups just did not fit the profile, especially at this point in his life. He would have been in his early 40s when he turned up at the card games, and 47 years old when he tipped off a bettor about the Blazers.

How could someone who made $106 million playing in the NBA put themselves in this position?

I asked Craig Carton. His rise and fall as a New York sports personality came about because of gambling. He was the subject of a documentary a few years ago after he lost everything. He served over a year in prison for securities and wire fraud before returning to the media and now hosts "The Craig Carton Show" on Fox.

"I don't know if he is a compulsive gambler. But I know from my experience that compulsive gamblers lose total sight of the money," Carton said. "It's about the competition. I can only speak about myself. Losing was viewed as absurd, and I didn't accept it. There is a point early on that you become aware of the risks financially. But you process it irrationally.

"When you get into the throes of it, you are willing to throw everything away. It ruins lives. It leaves such a wake. It's why I tour high school and college campuses now, and why I was honored to speak at the NBA Rookie Symposium. I own the fact that I am an addict. There is shame and stigma that comes with it seven years later. But I don't mind. I know that is who I am. I was blessed because I had a lot of good people in my corner who thought there was still a really good person inside. I will be indebted to them for the rest of my life."

Billups deserves his day in court. But his days on the court could be over forever.

And it is tough to come to grips with that reality, given his legacy as a Colorado icon.

"Chauncey saved my job in Denver," Karl said. "I went on to have four more good years. One regret I have is that when we traded Melo (Carmelo Anthony) that Chauncey had to be part of it. I begged them to do it without him. The admiration I have for Chauncey will never leave. This whole thing reminds me of when I went off to college. My dad said, 'During our lifetime, we all eat humble pie. Just make sure it's a small piece.'

"I just hope it is a small piece for Chauncey."