NBA Coach Billups Pleads Not Guilty to Poker Game Charges

Portland Trail Blazers Coach Chauncey Billups arrives for his arraignment hearing at US District Court for the Eastern District of New York in New York City on Nov. 24.
Photographer: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

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By Patricia Hurtado and Miles J. Herszenhorn

November 24, 2025 at 3:41 PM UTC

Updated on

November 24, 2025 at 6:39 PM UTC

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty to charges he engaged in rigged high-stakes poker games that prosecutors said had ties to the Mafia.

Billups’ lawyer, Marc Mukasey, entered the not guilty plea Monday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. Billups, 49, was charged along with 30 other defendants in the case.