Source: CBS Sports
U.S.NBA commissioner “deeply disturbed” by gambling arrests of Billups, RozierOctober 24, 2025 / 11:56 PM EDT/ CBS/APNBA Commissioner Adam Silver, in his first public commentssince the arrestsof Portland coach Chauncey Billups and Miami guard Terry Rozier on gambling-related charges, said Friday night that he was stunned by the indictments that have rocked the league.”My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver said on Amazon Prime Video, during the streaming service’s first broadcast — Boston at New York. “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.”Such was a sentiment shared by many around the league on Friday, one day after the indictments were unsealedand nearly three dozen people— most notably, Billups and Rozier — were arrested by federal officials.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.Rozier’s attorney, James Trusty, told CBS News in a statement Thursday that Rozier had been characterized as a subject, not a target, of investigators, but then “at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel.” Trusty accused federal prosecutors of wanting “the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk.”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.In a statement provided to CBS News Thursday night, an attorney for Billups wrote that “to believe that Chauncey Billups did what the federal government is accusing him of is to believe that he would risk his hall-of-fame legacy, his reputation, and his freedom. He would not jeopardize those things for anything, let alone a card game. Billups has never and would never gamble on basketball games, provide insider information, or sacrifice the trust of his team and the League, as it would tarnish the game he has devoted his entire life to.”The arrests have overshadowed the opening week around the league.”I apologize to our fans that we are all dealing with this situation,” Silver said during the in-game interview.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 al…
Published: 2025-10-25T03:56:38
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