Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden reacts to FBI probe involving Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups: 'Very sad day'

FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday unveiled allegations against current and former NBA players allegedly involved in two sports gambling cases.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., was excited about the start of the Portland Trail Blazers' new season, but just one day after the team's opener, it is mired in controversy after an FBI probe. 

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA guard Damon Jones were among more than two dozen arrested as part of a widespread FBI investigation Thursday. Billups was allegedly involved in a nationwide poker ring involving members of the La Cosa Nostra crime families. 

Wyden, who loves the game of basketball having played at UC Santa Barbara in the 1960s, was just as shocked as the rest of sports fans upon learning the news, especially since it affected his local team. 

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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wears a Portland Trail Blazers-themed Rip City hat in the Hart Building Aug. 4, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc )

"I will tell you that this is a very sad day for all of us as sports fans," Wyden told reporters when asked about his thoughts on the investigation. He didn't expand for any further. 

Joseph Nocella, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said during the investigation announcement Thursday that alleged schemers in the poker takedown targeted victims known as "fish" who were lured in by giving them the chance to play alongside former pro athletes like Billups. Those athletes were known as "face cards."

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Nocella added that the "fish" were unaware of the "face cards" being a part of the