Since Chauncey Billups took the helm as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021, late June has often found him deeply engrossed in preparing for the NBA Draft. This year, the Blazers used this time to enhance their youthful roster, adding key components for their future. However, Billups was conspicuously absent from the team’s war room during this week’s NBA Draft, having been on leave since October. On Tuesday, the Blazers announced the hiring of Micah Nori, a former assistant with the Minnesota Timberwolves, as their new head coach. This decision follows Tiago Splitter’s departure from the interim head coach position earlier this month to lead the Chicago Bulls.
Nori's hiring suggests a definitive shift away from Billups, who faced mounting challenges during his tenure. The Trail Blazers, which made the playoffs this year for the first time since 2021, placed Billups on leave following his arrest linked to a high-profile illegal poker case that drew significant media attention last fall. With crucial trial dates approaching in the coming months, it appears increasingly unlikely that Billups will return to the NBA by the start of the 2026-27 season.
Billups, a five-time NBA All-Star known for his playing days with seven teams, including a brief period with the New York Knicks in 2011, has been embroiled in legal troubles. On June 10, the Knicks made headlines by erasing a 29-point deficit, achieving the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. The following day, Billups appeared in a Brooklyn federal courthouse for an update on his gambling case.
Last October, Billups was indicted by a federal grand jury alongside 30 others in a wide-reaching gambling investigation. He pleaded not guilty to several felony charges, including money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy related to an illegal poker scheme. Allegations suggest that the defendants in this case defrauded poker victims of over $7 million through a sophisticated cheating operation using advanced technologies.
Billups has not been accused of directly cheating any victims, but prosecutors characterize him as a “face card” in the scheme— a role involving high-profile figures meant to entice players into the underground games. He allegedly wired $50,000 from a co-conspirator following a 2020 poker game.
Outside the courtroom, Billups' attorney, Marc Mukasey, has upheld Billups' innocence in interactions with the media. Conviction on the charges could lead to a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for Billups.
Prosecutors recently disclosed that six defendants in the case have pleaded guilty ahead of this month's status conference. Among them, former NBA player Damon Jones admitted guilt in a separate sports betting case. Robert Stroud, another defendant, is accused of providing a rigged shuffling machine used during a 2019 poker game that Billups attended. Court documents reveal discussions between Stroud and co-defendant Sophia Wei about the possibility of intentionally losing certain hands to avoid suspicions.
Text messages indicate that attendees in that game viewed Billups as a celebrity, heightening the stakes of the poker night. Other defendants who have pleaded guilty include Saul Becher, Kenny Han, Osman Hoti, and Seth Trustman, with Hoti linked to a robbery involving the rigged equipment and Trustman alleged to have organized various underground games.
At the hearing, Assistant US Attorney Sean Sherman noted that investigators have gathered over 259 hours of recordings and examined 2.1 terabytes of data from the defendants' electronic devices and accounts.
To manage the complex case with numerous defendants, prosecutors have categorized them into three trial groups. US District Judge Ramon Reyes has indicated a desire to commence the trial on November 2. Mukasey did not object to this timeline but argued against the division of defendants into different groups. Billups is included in “Trial Group 3” with seven others, including Wei and Eric Earnest, who faces charges in the sports betting matter. Joseph Lanni, linked to the first group, has made a deal to change his plea, having been identified as a captain in the Gambino crime family and accused of taking a share of the illicit poker proceeds. His plea hearing is set for July 1, with the next status conference scheduled for September 10.
