Speaking to Amazon Prime reporter Cassidy Hubbarth during the first quarter of Friday’s matchup between Boston and New York (Twitter video link), commissioner Adam Silver said he was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations in Thursday’s federal gambling indictments, which resulted in the arrests of Heat guard Terry Rozier, Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and former NBA guard and coach Damon Jones, among others.
“My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver said. “There is 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.”
Word broke back in January that federal prosecutors in New York were investigating Rozier as part of a probe into illegal sports betting. Investigators were specifically looking at a game that took place on March 23, 2023, when the veteran guard was still a member of the Hornets.
Ahead of that game, one bettor reportedly placed 30 wagers in 46 minutes on the “unders” on Rozier-related prop bets at a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, raising alarms about potential suspicious activity. At the same time, there was a rush on multiple sportsbooks in New Orleans of under bets on Rozier props. Sportsbooks and the NBA were alerted, and some books stopped taking bets related to Rozier’s performance that day.
After recording five points, four rebounds and two assists in 9:34 of action in the first quarter, Rozier exited the game during a timeout and didn’t return, citing a foot issue. All 30 of those “under” prop bets won as a result of the abbreviated outing, and Rozier didn’t play the final eight games of the 2022/23 season due to the injury.
Silver was asked about the NBA’s investigation into Rozier, who was — at the time — cleared by the league to continue playing, despite the suspicious circumstances (stories via Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, Shakeia Taylor of The Athletic, and Tim Bontemps of ESPN).
“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, and we ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence despite that aberrational behavior. We then worked directly with law enforcement — as they said at the press conference, the league has been cooperating. That was obviously almost two years ago.
“The federal government has subpoena power,” Silver continued. “[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.
“Two and a half 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.”
The illegal gambling investigations have overshadowed the start of the 2025/26 season, which Silver acknowledged.
“I apologize to our fans that we are all dealing with this situation,” Silver said during the in-game interview.
Could the pit in his stomach have just simply came from an inadvertent piece of fruit he had eaten earlier?
Yall talked this back for a year Adam, where did this pit come from? Mango? Peach….kiwi…
He definitely talked it back. Seems they didn’t want this to go public. So much more is coming out now. Feds are really going for it. Stuff I’m reading is a lot more evidence is coming out. This is going to get ugly.
Clown shoes
He’s an alien that wakes up in a suite, rubs his grabbler hands with his crooked banking buddies.. move on
Is it surprising players will gamble when every commercial is about how to gamble?
The players aren’t the ones gambling.
At least not on the game, just with their own lives.
Silver’s just mad he didn’t get a cut.
I don’t know about that…however Gambling is everywhere in Sport and it needs to be eradicated
But not concerned about his middle of the night neckblood drinking habit.
the Miami Heat could sue the NBA for billions due to this… Adam Silver deserves to lose his job
For context on my comment.. the NBA was investigating Rozier when the Heat traded for him in 2024, but did not notify the team. They then cleared him of this issue, which the Heat used to determine not to trade and/or release him with the stretch provision….. The NBA cleared Rozier for what he was subsequently arrested for and the Heat are very actionable victims, with damages that value his contract and unknown amount of on and off court issues. All because Silver failed to notify them of the situation. Imagine what the Heat could do with 26 million more in cap space the last 2 seasons. Jimmy Butler would probably still be on the Heat, another All-Star would probably be his teammate as well. That’s just conjecture though because the Heat had to operate as taxpayers with hard caps because they were not informed about a legal situation.
I mean, there’s a pretty good reason the NBA didn’t notify the Heat.
They were cooperating with the feds for two years and anything they told the Heat would have leaked to Rozier and jeopardized the investigation of not just him but 30+ organized crime figures (and those are just the ones who were indicted, surely plenty of other persons of interest they couldn’t charge).
letting them know “he’s being investigated and could be suspended” isn’t hard to do brother…. they don’t need to give them the full report
The NBA doesn’t have the investigative powers that the federal government has.
The league found nothing they could conclusively suspend him for. The league isn’t investigating and surveilling his associates.
The reports are the guy who made the Rozier bets allegedly went to Rozier’s house afterwards to count the cash. Do you think Rozier admitted this to the NBA? Do you think it reasonable for the NBA to have been able to uncover this during their investigation?
“It isn’t hard to do brother”. Writing nonsense on the internet isn’t particularly hard either. Use your noodle.
THEY….DID…NOT….NOTIFY…THE… HEAT… HE …. WAS… BEING….INVESTIGATED…BY… ANYONE!!! Do I need to write that slower or are you still licking big orange wilson balls here?
Doofus. My point is the feds wouldn’t have wanted the Heat (or any other team) to be notified of things that clearly needed to stay on a “Need to know” basis.
The heat cannot sue the league for this, and if they did, the league would just counter-sue for damaging the NBA brand by allowing this criminal to gamble and leak information. Nobody is entitled to know a federal investigation is under way. League investigations are not legal proceedings.
Dumbest Commish in all pro sports. Just an unintelligent guy. Time to move on from Silver.
The NBA Today:
Money > Integrity
All sports.. Including colleges. Silver says he was “stunned”. All the commissioners in every pro sport and college conferences ran with open arms to gambling like it was their long lost moms. The greed is disgusting and his “shock” is a joke.
Considering the league office rigs the draft lottery almost every year. What do you expect from your players? Start by getting rid of the draft lottery, and then maybe things will be more above board.
They do? Proof?
If it’s not rigged, why is it done behind closed doors where nobody can see?
Mark Tatum reads braille and wears 2 way glasses.. so what
Its not looking good at all. There is more going to come out. With all who got caught. The other guy who is retired player and coach. He was selling inside info. And even professional gamblers are coming out talking about it being organized crime. Feds are going to dig into this lols. This is not looking good for NBA. I pray my team is not involved. Or players I like.
I’ve been telling y’all, NBA will go bankrupt in the next 5-10 yrs
When get in bed with dogs, you’re gonna get fleas, commish. Is that news to you finally?
Meanwhile the NBA has pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars (or billions even) from the partnerships they have with the online betting sites, so I’m surprised Silver is surprised! Does this commissioner really have his head stuck so deep in the sand he’s this oblivious?
The problem is everything can be suspicious now. Did the first backup QB for the Bengals not throw to Chase cause he took money to make sure Chase went “under” on receiving yards? It’s certainly not hard for an NBA player to manipulate something small – like 3-pts made – bet the under on 2.5 and hit two then not take any more. Could still have crazy good game…and just manipulate one small stat…and make some money off of it.
You’re missing the other side of the equation, the one where a bunch of bets come in that don’t normally, and then the suspicious activity takes place. That’s what got Rozier busted, he happened to leave the game early when a bunch of irregular bets came in. It’s not that hard to figure out.
Does Silver understand what the role of a Commissioner is? The position was created so there would be one guy whose sole focus would be protecting the integrity of the game. Hopefully, what he’s feeling in the pit of his stomach isn’t a pit of any kind, but the shame of being reduced to a disappointed spectator of events that he was employed to prevent.
Sure, Mr. Commissioner, you knew nothing about it. That’s why every commercial during games and on the NBA YouTube channel is a sports betting ad and/or booze. EVERY COMMERCIAL on the YouTube. Have a spine for once in your life. It’s so obvious, e.g. SGA.