National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner Adam Silver said he was “deeply disturbed” by arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billips for their roles in separate illegal gambling cases.

A third person, ex-Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones, was arrested last week over allegations he provided inside information about NBA games to others for betting purposes.

Billups’ federal case – in which the FBI has claimed that victims were lured to play in rigged poker games – has alleged links to the Mafia, while Rozier’s is tied to suspicious betting patterns.  

Rozier’s case was first reported back in January, as part of the same probe that saw former NBA star Jontay Porter handed a lifetime ban for being part of an illegal gambling ring.

While playing for the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier was accused of manipulating his playing time during a game in March 2023 against the New Orleans Pelicans, which saw him come off the court after 10 minutes with a foot injury having recorded five points, four rebound and two assists.

At the time, the NBA said it was cooperating with US authorities as part the investigation, with Rozier allowed to continue playing while the case was scrutinised.

Speaking to a reporter on Friday, 24 October during the broadcast of an NBA game, Silver addressed the incidents and said maintaining the league’s integrity was of the utmost importance, but admitted the arrests had left him feeling “disturbed”.

He said: “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.”

Commenting on the league’s own investigation into Rozier, which saw the player cleared despite there being “aberrational behaviour”, Silver noted that the league could not find any wrongdoing but that the federal authorities had the power to take the case much further.

He added: “We 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. We sat down for an interview and we ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behaviour.

“Of course, what they announced yesterday was an indictment, so two and a half years later, he [Rozier] still hasn’t been convicted of anything, in fairness to Terry.

 “Obviously it doesn’t look good, but he’s now been put on administrative leave. There’s a balance here of protecting people’s rights and investigating.

“We’ve been working with the government, and they have extraordinary powers that a league office doesn’t have.”

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