A day after an active NBA head coach and player were arrested in connection with an FBI gambling investigation, NBA commissioner Adam Silver expressed his dismay at the charges.
Speaking on Amazon Prime Video’s debut NBA broadcast featuring the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, Silver said, “My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed. There’s nothing more important to the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition. And so I had a pit in my stomach. It was very upsetting.”
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is accused of tipping off gamblers that he would leave a game early due to injury. Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is accused of playing in rigged poker games in New York that were linked to the Mafia.
Billups also meets the description of an unnamed co-conspirator in the government report who allegedly alerted gamblers that the Blazers would be tanking late-season games.
A total of 34 people were arrested in separate investigations into betting and illegal poker. Among them was former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, accused of using insider knowledge about players — including his former teammate LeBron James — to profit.
Silver discussed the NBA’s prior investigation into Rozier’s actions in a March 23, 2023, game for the Charlotte Hornets against the New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier had five points and four rebounds in 10 first-quarter minutes, then cited a foot injury and exited the game for good. He missed the Hornets’ remaining eight games that season.
“So what happened was, because bets were placed through legalized legal betting companies, they picked up aberrational behavior around a particular game in March of 2023,” Silver said. “And so, it was brought to our attention by the regulators and the betting companies. We then looked into that situation and were very transparent about it. And while there was that aberrational betting, we, frankly, couldn’t find anything.”
The commissioner added, “The federal government has subpoena power. (It) can threaten to put people in jail, can do all kinds of things that the league office can’t do. So, we’ve been working with them since then. And, of course, what they announced yesterday was an indictment.
“And 2 1/2 years later, he still hasn’t been convicted of anything, in fairness to Terry. Obviously, it doesn’t look good, but he’s been put on administrative leave, and so it is a balance here between protecting people’s rights and investigating.”
Billups was also placed on leave, with Tiago Splitter taking over as the Trail Blazers’ interim head coach.
–Field Level Media
