The latest on the NBA illegal betting scandal, Congress asks NBA for answers

(ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said NBA players and coaches have to be mindful of conversations they have with people outside their organizations that may have gambling implications.

“It’s a scary situation,” Bickerstaff said Sunday before Detroit’s home opener against the Boston Celtics. “The information that our guys have, just natural things that happen through a shootaround or through a practice that might be a casual conversation at home or wherever it may be, that information has been monetized now. You have to be extremely careful. We’ve had a ton of conversations about our guys about that, and just how sensitive it is.

“When you get in bed with sports betting and gambling, there’s a lot of things that come with it,” Bickerstaff added. “All money ain’t good money.”

The NBA’s gambling scandal has been a hot topic in Detroit, where Chauncey Billups helped the Pistons win the 2004 title as NBA Finals MVP and had the most successful stint of his Basketball Hall of Fame career.

Billups, who was placed as leave as coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was one of 31 people arrested last week on charges of participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes poker games with ties to three Mafia families.

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