Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has come out in support of Chauncey Billups, who was arrested following the FBI investigations into illegal gambling allegations in the league.

“To be honest with you, it’s a scary situation,” Bickerstaff said before the Pistons’ home opener against the Boston Celtics. “The information that our guys have, that are just natural things that happen through a shootaround or through a practice … that information has been monetized now.”

Bickerstaff said he spoke with the Pistons about the importance of not sharing information even with their loved ones.

“You’re having an innocent conversation with a friend of yours, but who knows what that friend does with that information?” Bickerstaff said. “We’ve talked about it.”

When asked about Billups’ recent arrest. Bickerstaff expressed his sympathy for his friend and colleague.

“I’ve known him since I was in the seventh grade. I care about him immensely,” Bickerstaff said of Billups. “I hate to see what he’s going through right now. As a friend, as a human, I’m here to support him and be there for him in any way that he needs me to be.”

“I know just how difficult this time is. I think everyone needs to allow the due process to happen, and then obviously, judgments can be made. But you feel for anybody who you’ve known that long, have a relationship with, know his family that well. So, I know he’s going through it; I know it’s a difficult time for him. But all of us, as friends and coaches, are there for him.”

Billups was arrested in Oregon in connection with a separate but related illegal gambling case linked to an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia. Billups is expected to make an initial court appearance later Thursday.

In addition to Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones–along with six other people–were also charged in a separate but related illegal gambling case, Thursday. The charges accused the co-defendants of “turning professional basketball into a criminal gambling operation by using inside information to place unlawful wagers.”

Billups and Rozier were placed on immediate leave from their teams by the NBA.