New York, 25 October 2025 (dpa/MIA) - NBA boss Adam Silver spoke publicly for the first time about the unexpected arrests of Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier that sent shock waves through the basketball league.

"My initial reaction was I was deeply disturbed," Silver said during the broadcast of a match between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks on Amazon Prime.

"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."

Billups, who won a title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and is in the NBA Hall of Fame, was arrested in Oregon on suspicion of being involved in a scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families, with 31 people arrested overall in this probe.

Rozier was arrested in Florida and is among six people suspected of being part of an an illegal sports betting scheme using insider NBA information and passing it on to others in exchange for money.

Rozier and Billups have since been released on bail.

Billups' lawyer said in a statement circulated by US media that his client "will fight these allegations with the same tenacity that marked his 28-year career."

Rozier's lawyer said he was not a gambler and that he was looking forward to winning his case. The FBI had initially said that Rozier was not a target in the investigation.

NBA's investigation into Rozier

The NBA had previously investigated what Silver characterized as "aberrational behaviour" around a 2023 game between the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier's team at the time, and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Silver said that they, "frankly, couldn't find anything." The NBA allowed Rozier to return to the court. The Hornets-Pelicans game was one of the matches listed by US prosecutors on Thursday.

"Two and a half years later, he still hasn't been convicted of anything, in fairness to Terry," Silver said.

"Obviously, it doesn't look good, but he's been put on administrative leave, and so it is a balance here between protecting people's rights and investigating. And as I said, we've been working with the government, and they have extraordinary powers the league office doesn't have."

Photo: EPA