NBA commissioner Adam Silver admits the NBA investigated then-Hornets guard Terry Rozier over potential sports betting infractions in 2023.
Speaking to Amazon Prime after the first quarter of Friday’s Knicks-Celtics game at the Garden, Silver said that Rozier cooperated with NBA investigators, but the league concluded there was “insufficient evidence” to discipline the player.
The FBI arrested Rozier — now a member of the Heat — and others Thursday in a widespread gambling probe, with Portland head coach Chauncey Billups also busted for his alleged part in an illegal poker scheme.
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“What happened was, because bets were placed by legal betting companies, they picked up aberrational behavior around a particular game in March of ’23. So that was brought to our attention by the regulators and the betting companies,” Silver told Amazon reporter Cassidy Hubbarth. “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.
“We then worked directly with law enforcement, as they said at the press conference. The league has been cooperating, and so that was obviously over two years ago. The federal government has subpoena power, can threaten to put people in jail, can do all sorts of things that a league office can’t do.
“We’ve been working with them since then, and of course, what they announced [Thursday] was an indictment. So two-and-a-half years later, he still hasn’t been convicted of anything, in fairness to Terry. Of course, it doesn’t look good, but he now has been put on administrative leave, but it’s a balance here of protecting people’s rights and investigating. And as I said, we’ve been working with the government, and they have extraordinary powers that a league office doesn’t have.”
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The FBI has arrested 31 people involved in a rigged poker game ring backed by the New York City organized crime families.
- Ernest Aiello — reputed Bonanno mobster
- Nelson “Spanish G” Alvarez
- Louis “Lou Ap” Apicella
- Ammar “Flapper Poker” Awawdeh
- Saul Becher — professional poker player
- Chauncey Billups — Portland Trail Blazers coach, NBA Hall of Famer and 2004 NBA champion
- Matthew “The Wrestler” Daddino
- Eric “Spooky” Earnest
- Lee Fama — professional poker player
- John Gallo
- Marco Garzon
- Thomas “Tommy Juice” Gelardo — reputed Lucchese mobster charged in 2013 for beating porn star girlfriend
- Jamie Gilet
- Tony “Black Tony” Goodson
- Kenny Han
- Shane “Sugar” Henne
- Osman “Albanian Bruce” Hoti
- Horatio Hu
- Zhen “Scruli” Hu
- Damon “Dee Jones” Jones — NBA player from 1998 to 2009
- Joseph Lanni
- John “John South” Mazzola
- Curtis Meeks
- Nicholas Minucci
- Michael Renzulli
- Anthony Ruggiero Jr.
- Anthony “Doc” Shnayderman
- Robert “Black Rob” Stroud
- Seth Trustman
- Sophia “Pookie” Wei
- Julius Ziliani
The 31-year-old Rozier was arrested by federal agents and charged for allegedly conspiring to help others win prop bets involving his performance during a game in March of 2023, when he was still a member of the Hornets before a trade to Miami the following season.
He has denied the charges through his legal counsel.
In the 2023 game in question, Rozier allegedly told a friend that he would pull himself early with an injury, and that information was sold to bettors, who wagered hundreds of thousands of dollars on Rozier’s under props, according to the indictment.
Rozier was in uniform but did not play in the Heat’s season-opening loss on Wednesday in Orlando.
Silver was not asked in the Amazon interview about Billups.
“First of all, I should have started with how excited we are to be on Amazon. I guess I wouldn’t have predicted that my first interview ever on Amazon would be about sports betting,” Silver said. “But I accept that.
“Meanwhile, another great game tonight and the competition that was in Oklahoma CIty on Opening Night, a double-overtime game there, I’ve been hearing from people throughout the league — and I apologize to our fans that we are all dealing now with this situation, but in terms of competition on the floor, it’s been spectacular.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
