Adam Silver spoke publicly for the first time since Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups were indicted by federal prospectors for their alleged roles in illegal sports betting.
“My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver said in an interview with Cassidy Hubbarth of Prime. “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.”
Silver was then asked about the NBA’s decision to continue to allow Rozier to keep playing.
“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.
“Terry, at the time, cooperated. He gave the league office his phone. He sat down for an interview. We ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behavior.”
Silver said the NBA doesn’t have the same type of levers as the federal government.
“The federal government has subpoena power,” Silver said. “[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 2½ 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. And as I said, we’ve been working with the government, and they have extraordinary powers the league office doesn’t have.”
Silver ultimately apologized to the NBA’s fans for the distraction the illegal gambling situation has become during its opening week of the regular season.
“I apologize to our fans that we are now all dealing with this situation,” said Silver. As far as the competition on the floor, it has been spectacular.”