
Chauncey Billups, the respected NBA Hall of Famer turned Portland Trail Blazers coach, has pleaded not guilty to explosive federal charges accusing him of profiting from a Mafia-backed rigged poker operation that allegedly stretched from Manhattan to Las Vegas.
The case, one of the most sweeping gambling crackdowns in recent years, threatens to dismantle the legacy of a player once hailed as one of basketball's most dependable leaders.