As the legal machinery turns, the focus now falls on the upcoming court dates for Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier, two high-profile NBA figures at the center of a sweeping gambling investigation.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, formal proceedings “will start in late November and early December for Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier, who I’m told will fight this with vigor, and they think this will be at least a 6 to 12 month process.”
This announcement marks a significant shift in what until now had been a flurry of arrests, inquiries, and internal league reviews.
As the NBA and federal authorities prepare to draw into focus exactly how deep the alleged misconduct goes, the timeline for trial gives a clearer sense of the road ahead.
Timeline to the court battle
The investigation first became public during the off-season, but the scale grew rapidly.
Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Rozier, guard for the Miami Heat, were among over 30 individuals charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and linked to two overlapping criminal schemes: one involving insider sports betting and another involving rigged poker operations tied to organized crime.
The league statement confirmed both men have been placed on leave:
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
Importantly, this week’s new update from Charania shifts the narrative from arrests to anticipation of a multiphase legal process. The 6-to-12 month estimation suggests discovery, pre-trial motions, and possibly multiple hearings before anything comes to close.
What led to this moment
Rozier‘s alleged involvement centers on a March 2023 game in which prosecutors say he informed an associate he would exit early, allowing co-conspirators to place lucrative prop bets.
Billups, meanwhile, is named in a separate but connected indictment alleging the use of NBA connections to facilitate poker games rigged with high-tech cheating devices, backed by the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families.
With those foundations laid, the timing matters: the November/December kick-off of proceedings means the rest of the season could be shaped by shadow questions, how teams respond internally, how the NBA handles public messaging, and what happens if additional figures are implicated.
Why the timeline matters
The 6-12 month window isn’t just a projection. It sets expectations for players, coaches, teams, and fans alike.
League sponsors, sportsbooks, media partners, and regulatory agencies will all be closely tracking.
As legal scholar Seth J. Zuckerman noted, the NBA is likely to “come down harshly on those involved in order to avoid a broader sports integrity probe because they may not like what they find.”
For the Trail Blazers and the Heat, the ripple effects are immediate: roster decisions, public relations, and even season-planning could be impacted as the calendar advances toward those key dates.
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