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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made his first public comments since the federal indictments of Portland coach Chauncey Billups and Miami guard Terry Rozier and former player Damon Jones in a wide-ranging gambling-related scheme.
“My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver said in an interview during the Amazon Prime Video broadcast of the New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics game Friday. “There’s nothing more important to the league and its fans than the integrity of the competition. I had a pit in my stomach. It was very upsetting.
“I apologize to our fans that we are all dealing with this situation.”
The bipartisan letter was signed by six members of Congress on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Rozier was arrested because federal officials allege he conspired with associates to help them win bets based on his statistical performance. The charges are similar to what former Toronto player Jontay Porter faced before he was banned from the league by Silver in 2024.
Billups faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering for participating in what federal officials called Mafia-backed rigged poker games. He also matches the credentials of someone described only as Co-Conspirator 8 in an indictment detailing how some people gave bettors inside information on player health statuses.
The Rozier case has gone on since March 23, 2023. He was with the Charlotte Hornets at that time, and sportsbooks — legal ones — alerted the NBA to irregular patterns involving Rozier’s “prop bets” that day. Rozier went on to play about 9 1/2 minutes, and those who bet that he would underperform the listed stat lines won those wagers. Federal officials said more than $200,000 was bet on those lines alone.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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