SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
This past week, the FBI arrested several current and former NBA figures for their alleged roles in illegal gambling schemes, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups. From member station OPB, Joni Auden Land talked with Trail Blazers fans.
JONI AUDEN LAND, BYLINE: Let me take you back to Wednesday night. Outside the Moda Center in Portland, Trail Blazers fans were ready for their first game of the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
DOMINIC MARTIN: This can be a great year. It can be an OK year, but I think it will not be a bad year.
LAND: That's fan Dominic Martin, who said he was hopeful the team could make the playoffs for the first time in years. But by next morning, everything changed. More than 30 people were arrested, including Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier. They're accused in an FBI sports betting investigation involving rigged poker games and inside information to people who bet on games. The Blazers played last night, and the mood was completely different. Fan Mark Hastings said he was disappointed.
MARK HASTINGS: I was just buying into Chauncy's philosophy and finally starting to really warm up to him. And just when that started, he was found to be involved with this scandal.
LAND: And Larry Mak said athletes feel pressure when there's money riding on how they play.
LARRY MAK: I think it's hard on the players and definitely changes the way to watch the game, probably adding a lot of stress to the kind of competition.
LAND: It's no secret that sports betting has exploded in recent years. It's now legal in some form in 40 states, according to the American Gaming Association.
AMIR SANAEE: I think it's stupid for the NBA to promote gambling, like, all day, every day and then be surprised when stuff like this happens.
LAND: And Blazers fan Amir Sanaee pointed out just how pervasive sports gambling has become.
SANAEE: The other day, I was watching an ESPN segment on this whole situation, and on the bar below, like, they're still promoting gambling.
LAND: But if there's one constant in sports, it's that you don't know what will happen next. The Blazers won Friday, beating the Golden State Warriors by 20 points. Despite all that's happened, some fans like Taron Smith are optimistic and in support of Billups.
TARON SMITH: I feel like the team did it for Chauncey. We got good days ahead of us. I feel like we're going to start winning a lot of games. Go Blazers, and free Chauncey.
LAND: For NPR News, I'm Joni Auden Land in Portland, Oregon. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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