Damian Lillard rips NBA star for mocking gambling arrests

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard. Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images

Damian Lillard lashes out at NBA star for mocking gambling arrests

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Oct 25, 2025 9:03 AM ET

Kevin Love is one of the funniest NBA stars on social media. His recent highlights include trolling LeBron James for "The Second Decision," calling himself a "math problem" after signing with the Utah Jazz and mocking Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler's fallout in Miami.

The NBA's meme man couldn't contain himself Thursday after news broke that Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested on illegal gambling charges.

Kevin Love makes light of gambling gate

The six-time All-Star photoshopped the faces of Billups and Rozier over Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot, who were infamously caught on the kiss cam of a Coldplay concert earlier this year.

Love further fanned the flames by using the caption "NO (DRAFT) Kings!!!" to go with the song "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. Love even used "Coldplay" as the location of his IG post, as seen below.

Kevin love trolling Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups on ig pic.twitter.com/axcXD0GiGP
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) October 23, 2025

Damian Lillard blasts Kevin Love

Lillard, a member of the Billups-coached Trail Blazers, was not amused by Love's post.

"Weak a-- s--t," Lillard responded, taking offense to the post.

Love was initially unapologetic, clarifying that it was made "in jest" and that he respects both Billups and Rozier.

"@damianlillard nah, we aren't going to do this…Chauncey has been my OG since 2010 — we won a World Championship together and I love and respect him. T-Ro is my brother, he knows where I stand and I supported him through the struggles last year. Comedy pushes boundaries. Social commentary that's all in jest. Same s--t with Jimmy and the Heat last year. I support our shared elite fraternity. And respect to you always."

However, Love later deleted his posts after a conversation with Lillard.

"Spoke to Dame and he opened my eyes to this being a real life situation for two of my former teammates and brothers," Love wrote.

The arrests of Billups, Rozier and retired player Damon Jones sent shockwaves through the NBA on Thursday. Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, the president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, said that he reached out to Billups and was "fully supportive" of his counterpart during the FBI-led investigation.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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