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Silver says NBA is taking gambling scandal seriously, may look into Heat relief over Terry Rozier

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It is critical for the NBA to be perceived as having integrity, Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday, adding that the gambling scandals that led to the arrests of Miami guard Terry Rozier, Portland coach Chauncey Billups and others are being taken with the utmost seriousness.

Silver’s comments in a news conference shortly before the start of the NBA Cup final were his first since Rozier, Billups and others were arrested in October. He spoke in Las Vegas, a gambling mecca that the league has used for major events like the Cup final and Summer League for some time.

“I think the fans care a lot,” Silver said. “It’s hard to make judgments, either anecdotally over what some fans are saying or what’s even on social media. Fans definitely care. And I mean it when I say, if this game isn’t viewed as being honest and the competition being on the level and at the highest integrity, over time we will lose our fan base. I have no doubt about that. And so, I take it incredibly seriously.”

The NBA is not sure how long the investigations and legal processes surrounding gambling charges faced by Rozier, Billups — a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee — and others will take to be completed, Silver said.

But the league will look into the possibility of giving Miami some sort of “satisfactory relief” because Rozier currently can’t play, Silver added, though he stopped short of saying such a move would be possible.

“This is an unprecedented situation,” Silver said.

It’s a multi-layered issue for the league and the Heat, given that Rozier’s $26.6 million salary takes up about 17% of the team’s cap space — and that the team still owes Charlotte a first-round pick in either 2027 or 2028 to satisfy the terms of the trade that brought Rozier to Miami. It’s unclear who was aware that Rozier was under federal investigation when the Heat made the trade with the Hornets.

Rozier pleaded not guilty earlier this month to wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges stemming from accusations that he helped some friends win bets that revolved around his statistical performance in a game played in March 2023, when he was with Charlotte. Rozier is free on $3 million bond and isn’t expected back in court until March, and he remains on unpaid leave from the Heat.

Prosecutors say Rozier informed the bettors that he intended to leave the game against the New Orleans Pelicans early with a supposed injury, allowing gamblers to place wagers earning them tens of thousands of dollars. Rozier played the first nine minutes and 36 seconds of the game before leaving, citing a foot issue. He did not play again that season and was subsequently traded to the Heat.

Rozier isn’t receiving his pay, but his salary is still on the Heat’s books and is being sent to an interest-bearing account pending resolution of his case or some other agreement.

“We’re going to try to work something through, work this out with them,” Silver said. “But there’s no obvious solution here. I would just say that there’s no doubt at the moment they have a player that can’t perform services for them. … Obviously, he hasn’t been convicted of anything yet either — but this is an unfortunate circumstance. Sometimes there’s these unique events and maybe sometimes they require a unique solution.”

Billups also pleaded not guilty last month to charges related to a separate scheme to fix high-stakes, Mafia-backed poker games. Rozier, Billups and former NBA guard Damon Jones were among more than 30 people — including several Mafia figures — arrested in October as part of a sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to pro sports.

The league requires annual training for players, coaches and staff about what’s allowed and what isn’t allowed regarding gambling, which is now legal in most states. Silver famously championed legalization of sports betting in an op-ed he wrote for The New York Times in 2014.

The situations with Rozier and Billups have led to a quest for even heightened awareness, Silver said. The league is also looking at how best to ensure prop bets based solely on a player’s statistical performance — like the ones made on Rozier’s March 2023 game — can be executed fairly.

“We’ve been redoubling our efforts at the league office, working with our teams, looking at every aspect of our rules around sports betting,” Silver said. “Are there better ways to educate the participants? Are there changes we should make in how injuries are reported? … We’re in the process as I said right now and working with our teams thinking about anything else we can be doing, if there’s any aspect of our system that needs to be shored up.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

By WTOP Staff
(CNN) — What started as a yearly trip for a grandfather and his grandson turned into a visit to a Montana hospital after a bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.Carl McDaniel, 65, was hospitalized with a broken femur after a bison charged and tossed him into the air Friday evening at the park’s Bridge Bay Campground, according to McDaniel and the National Park Service.He was visiting the park with his 13-year-old grandson when they decided to take a walk after dinner.Along the way, they encountered a large bison that appeared to be rolling around in the dust and was not bothering anyone, McDaniel told CNN.“We were about a hundred yards away,” McDaniel said. “He was not aggressive; he was not having problems and we took some pictures and decided to walk on.”McDaniel and his grandson snapped a quick photo and continued with their walk, video of the encounter shows. At the same time, a truck drove by, and the driver laid on his horn in what appeared to be an attempt to get the bison to move, McDaniel said. There is no audio on the video.The bison then appeared to become agitated and began running toward the pair.“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.The animal then pushed McDaniel with the top of its head, sending him flying into the air before he hit the ground, the grandfather said.“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so,” McDaniel said.After McDaniel hit the ground, photographer Mike MacLeod, who captured the encounter on video, had to step in, he told Cowboy State Daily.“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.After the bison took off, people rushed over to McDaniel, who was in a lot of pain, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. Yellowstone EMS arrived soon after, he said.“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital,” the National Park Service said in confirming the incident in a statement to CNN.This is the second bison attack at Yellowstone this year. A 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano on June 26, according to the agency.After Friday’s attack, “all the people that were there were amazing; they were all positive, they were trying to help as best they could,” McDaniel said. A nurse started tending to his leg, while another bystander held his head.He was then transferred to a hospital in Bozeman, a two-hour journey during which he was in intense pain. He said he was grateful for the paramedic who helped him along the way.McDaniel broke his femur, the body’s strongest bone, in four places near his hip and suffered several bruises. He had surgery Sunday and could stand by Monday.“I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,” McDaniel said.The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times and to never approach the animals. “If the bison follows you, spray bear spray as you are moving away, and seek cover behind nearby trees or cars,” the agency said.Correction: An earlier version of this story understated how far visitors should stay away from bison. The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards from them.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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