Trail Blazers Star Reflects on Outrageous Halftime Moment

Matt Levine

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The Portland Trail Blazers 2023-24 season didn't go the way anyone would have liked as the team finished the year with a record of 21-61. Portland was one of the worst teams across the NBA as they fully entered into a rebuild following the decision to trade away star guard Damian Lillard just before the start of the season.

While the Trail Blazers do have some young talent on the roster, sometimes that youth can get in the way of things. Portland head coach Chauncey Billups revealed an incident that occurred with the Trail Blazers from last season.

Billups recently did an interview with his former teammate on the Denver Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony where he threw one of the younger guards under the bus. He appeared on Anthony's new podcast 7PM in Brooklyn and revealed that one of the players on the Trail Blazers shared a clip of himself dunking in the first half despite the team being down double digits at halftime. Billups called out the player during his appearance but didn't name him.

"We coming out for the third quarter, this motherf---er done posted his dunk on his joint... At halftime. We down 18," Billups revealed on the podcast. "I said, 'Ay yo bro, get the f--- back there and take that s--- down... What the f--- is wrong with you man?'"

Following this, Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons joined NBA insider Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report to discuss the situation. Even Simons was shocked that a teammate would do this but wouldn't reveal which teammate it was.

"It was crazy. It was crazy. Everybody in the locker room like, did he just do that? People showing on his profile. No way he did that. No way. But we sent someone back there to go fix it for him. Sometimes they just don't know."

Simons is fairly young himself, being 25 years old, but even he knows not to do this. He mentioned that he doesn't even like to post highlights after the team loses, so posting during halftime is an entirely different situation.

While both Billups and Simons wouldn't name the player, you'd have to think that they either aren't with the team anymore or were given a harsh warning. Portland is looking to be more competitive this coming season so these types of antics won't fly any longer.

More Trail Blazers: Chauncey Billups Calls Out Portland Player for Halftime Hijinks

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Matt Levine
MATT LEVINE

Matt earned a Master of Science degree in Sport Management from Louisiana State University in 2021. He was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, covering all Southern California sports in his career.

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