NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday he was “deeply disturbed” by the federal indictments handed down this week involving Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, calling the allegations “very upsetting” and a direct threat to the integrity of the league.
In his first public comments since the indictments were announced Thursday, Silver spoke during an interview with Amazon Prime Video at the start of the second quarter of the New York Knicks-Boston Celtics game at Madison Square Garden.
“My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver said. “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.”
The remarks come one day after federal prosecutors unsealed two sweeping indictments charging 34 individuals—including Rozier, Billups, and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard and coach Damon Jones—with crimes related to illegal sports betting and rigged high-stakes poker games. The investigations, which officials described as “ongoing,” accuse multiple defendants of using nonpublic NBA information to profit from bets on games played between December 2022 and March 2024.
Silver provided additional context regarding a March 23, 2023 game between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans, one of several games referenced in the indictment.
According to Silver, the NBA was first alerted to “aberrational behavior” by legal betting regulators and sportsbooks, who flagged suspicious betting patterns on that matchup. Rozier, then with the Hornets, was investigated by the league at the time.
“Because bets were placed through legalized betting companies, they picked up aberrational behavior around a particular game in March of 2023,” Silver said. “It was brought to our attention by regulators and 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.”
Silver said Rozier cooperated fully with the league’s internal probe, including surrendering his phone and participating in interviews.
“We ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behavior,” Silver said. “And we’ve been working with the government since then.”
According to the indictment, Rozier allegedly conspired with others to share insider information and manipulate outcomes for betting profit. Prosecutors claim Rozier informed a childhood friend, Deniro Laster, that he would remove himself from the Hornets-Pelicans game early due to a supposed injury. Laster allegedly sold that information to two bettors for about $100,000, who then wagered heavily on Rozier’s unders (statistical totals).
Rozier exited the game after just nine minutes, finishing with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, leading to hundreds of thousands in successful bets.
The indictment alleges that between December 2022 and March 2024, co-conspirators placed bets on at least seven NBA games, involving the Hornets, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, and Trail Blazers.
Silver noted that while the NBA has strong investigative tools, it cannot compel testimony or access certain evidence in the way the federal government can.
“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.”
He emphasized that both Rozier and Billups have been placed on administrative leave by their respective teams while the cases proceed.
“Two and a half years later, he still hasn’t been convicted of anything, in fairness to Terry,” Silver said. “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.”
The NBA released a statement Thursday confirming that both Rozier and Billups were placed on immediate leave and that the league would continue to cooperate with federal investigators.
“There’s nothing more sacred to the NBA than fair competition,” Silver reiterated Friday. “We’ll continue to take every necessary step to protect that integrity.”
As the investigations unfold, both the Heat and Trail Blazers face uncertain futures regarding two of their most prominent figures. Meanwhile, the scandal represents one of the most serious integrity crises to confront professional basketball in decades—one that Silver says the league will face “head-on.”
