The trial of the former Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has been pushed back nearly four months, according to ESPN’s David PurdumLink to Twitter) and KGW8’s Jared Cowley.
Originally scheduled to begin in November 2026, the trial will now begin with jury selection on March 8, 2027. The trial, which will take place in Brooklyn federal court, is expected to last four weeks.
Billups was was arrested last Octoberone game in the 2025/26 NBA regular season, due to a federal investigation into illegal gambling. Prosecutors allege the Hall of Famer participated in rigged poker games that included electronic cheating devices and were run by organized crime groups. Investigators said Billups was one of the recognizable figures used to lure the victims, who were unaware that everyone else participating in the games was part of the scam.
Also a description of an unnamed separate meeting of Billups allegedly told sports bettor on the Blazers’ plans to go into tank mode in March 2023. However, that charge is related to a separate gambling case and will not be part of the March trial.
Billups has He did not plead guilty on charges of money laundering and wire fraud and was released on $5 million bail last November. He is one of 31 defendants in the case — at least a dozen have pleaded guilty and others are said to be entering plea deals.
Billups’ lawyers tried earlier in the summer to avoid a postponement of the trial, claiming that the case had resulted in him “losing his livelihood and becoming the object of an intense degree of public resentment”. The start date was originally moved from November 2 to November 30 before being pushed back again.