Pablo Torre, a sports journalist, has reported that Ty Lue, head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, took part in one of the allegedly rigged poker games associated with Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.
The F.B.I. claims that this poker game featured a table with X-ray vision and a shuffling machine manipulated by a crime family; the New York Post reported.
According to Torre, Lue’s involvement in the match-fixing matter has now come to light.
“Sources familiar with the April 2019 game in Las Vegas we’ve been discussing, a game where Billups reportedly benefitted from dubious hands and a rigged shuffling machine, noted that Ty Lue, who was an assistant coach at the time, was also present,” Torre stated.
He also highlighted that Lue is said to have a close friendship with Billups.
“Reports indicate that while Lue did not play at the same table as Billups—whom Lue referred to as his best friend and had plans to appoint as an assistant in 2020—he was in attendance,” Torre added.
Lue has mentioned that he and Billups have been friends since their teenage years.
The coach is known for his passion for poker, and Torre noted that Lue is viewed as a prominent figure in the poker scene within the NBA.
“It’s well-known among NBA circles that Ty Lue, who spends his offseasons in Las Vegas, is an avid poker player,” Torre said. “He’s frequently seen at the Aria High Limit Bar, a hub for NBA poker, often in the company of another former NBA player, Damon Jones, who Lue has hired in the past and considers his best friend.”
Last week, Jones was arrested by the F.B.I. due to his role in the poker and sports match-fixing controversy that has shaken the league.
“In June 2024, Ty Lue and Damon Jones were spotted sitting next to each other watching a friend compete at the World Series of Poker, and they appeared on the event’s broadcast,” Torre reported.
Citing the Post, Jones tried to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but his attempts were rejected twice by Texas courts.
