Poker hit mainstream media in 2025, but for all the wrong reasons, most notably a major cheating scandal that involved some NBA stars allegedly rigging poker games.
Chauncey Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was the highest profile former athlete implicated in a federal indictment that saw 31 people arrested on illegal gambling related charges.
Billups, once a star guard and NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons, was forced to step aside from his coaching position and has since entered a not guilty plea. But his reputation, and others, has been shattered thanks to a story in 2025 that had all the biggest sports media outlets talking.