In the NBA on Prime broadcast debut on Friday night, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was interviewed by Prime Video reporter Cassidy Hubbarth during the Celtics-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.
Hubbarth asked Silver about the wide-ranging gambling scandal that has rocked the NBA world, with the FBI making arrests of 34 people that include Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and assistant coach Damon Jones as part of the illegal gambling probe.
“Adam, yesterday, federal indictments were announced involving current player Terry Rozier and current head coach Chauncey Billups,” Hubbarth began. “What was your initial reaction, and what have the last 36 hours been like for you?”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver was interviewed by Cassidy Hubbarth during the ‘NBA on Prime’ debut and shared his thoughts on the gambling scandal. #NBA pic.twitter.com/NkdEowTOHR
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“My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed,” Silver said. “There’s nothing more important to the league and the fans than the integrity of the competition. And, so, I had a pit in my stomach. It was very upsetting.”
“And Terry Rozier was allowed to keep playing after an NBA investigation ruled that there were no NBA rules violated,” Hubbarth said. “What do you make of that decision now amid the FBI’s investigation against him?”
“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 ’23,” Silver responded. “And, so, that 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 that there was insufficient evidence, despite that aberrational behavior, to move forward.”
“We then worked directly with the law enforcement, as they said at the press conference, that the league has been cooperating, Silver continued. “That was obviously over two years ago. So, the federal government has subpoena power, can threaten to put people in jail, can do all kinds of things that a league office can’t do. So, we’ve been working with them since then. And of course, what they announced yesterday was an indictment. So, 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 now been put on adminstrative leave. And, so, there’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.”
Hubbarth followed that up by asking Silver, “What has made you excited about the season ahead?”
“First of all, I should’ve started how excited we are about to be on Amazon,” Silver said. “I guess I wouldn’t have predicted that my first interview ever on Amazon would be about sports betting. But I accept that.”
“I apologize to our fans that we are all dealing with now this situation,” Silver added. “But in terms of the competiton on the floor, it’s been spectacular.”