Trail Blazers coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges that he participated in and profited from rigged poker games, Philip Marcelo of The Associated Press reports. Billups was released on a $5MM bond secured by his family’s Colorado home.
Per his bond agreement, Billups must refrain from gambling and can have no contact with other defendants or alleged victims. He has surrendered his passport and can only travel to seven states, including Oregon and New York. Billups and his co-defendants, including ex-NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, appeared for a status conference on Monday and are due back in court on March 4.
The judge told all the attorneys at today’s proceedings that his intention is to expedite the process and start the trial by September of 2026, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets.
Billups was placed on unpaid leave by the NBA after his arrest in late October, shortly after the team’s opening game. His arrest and the timeline of the case essentially assures that he won’t return to coaching for at least the remainder of this season. Tiago Splitter has been serving as the team’s interim coach in Billups’ absence.
Prosecutors said Monday that plea negotiations have begun with some defendants, according to Marcelo. Billups’ lawyer, Marc Mukasey, entered his client’s not guilty plea. They declined to comment to the media afterward.
According to prosecutors, the poker games in which Billups was allegedly involved with defrauded victims of an estimated $7MM.
The arrests of Billups, Jones and Heat guard Terry Rozier, who was charged by the federal goverment with illegal activities regarding prop bets, shook up the league and the sports world just after the season began. The NBA, in response, is seeking to tighten controls regarding wagering on its games.
$106.8 million career earnings= $3M/year in guaranteed interest. He’s clearly sick in the head to defraud his friends $7M.. have fun hoopn in the clink.
The NBA Hall of Famer used his home in Colorado as collateral and his daughter Cydney, the manager of team and player services for the Minnesota Timberwolves, cosigned his bond.
Umm, he hasn’t been convicted and this case isn’t going to result in one anyway.
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Getting a lot of mileage out of that one, huh?
PDX needs 3pt shooting and a new coaching staff like Jenkins
He will make up that 5mil bail after a few poker games…
Lets talk about how well the Blazers are doing under Tiago!!
“his intention is to expedite the process and start the trial by September of 2026”
Talk about expeditious…
Exactly. Often the laws in this country befuddle me.
Billups is done. He better pray he doesn’t lose his pension. NBA better throw the book at all who are guilty. Clean up your house. You let gambling in. I just don’t get how all money is good money in business.
Go back and look at the leagues finances over the last decade. They were in a steep decline in revenue and viewership. If they hadn’t gotten into bed with gambling they may not exist anymore.
These gambling partnerships were deals with the devil. It’s going to ruin sports.
Did he know the games were rigged or was he just used to attract players with his celebrity? Maybe he isn’t guilty. Innocent till proven guilty. Billups situation is so different from all the rest, it doesn’t involve sports betting at all. I think he should be able to work while he’s dealing with this.
Crowds would heckle him and he would be a distraction to the team with these allegations and connections. Guilty until proven innocent in his case.
This case involves more serious charges than the Rozier case. But, unlike the latter, it doesn’t involve NBA games. With that, if Billups can plead to something less than being a RICO conspirator with the mob, then it’s not impossible that he might work his way back into the NBA fold at some point.
Whereas, Rozier, who’s actual behavior may turn out to be relatively benign, almost has to be banned regardless.
*allegedly
None of these people have been convicted and the FBI under Patel and DoJ/Bindi have an absolutely horrendous record right now.
Billups isn’t getting convicted. Just like Comey, James. They are just grasping at whoever they don’t like. NBA is on that list.
Everyone is guilty