Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Reacts To League’s Gambling Developments

Authorities took Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and ex-NBA player Damon Jones into custody on Thursday for alleged gambling activities.

Rozier and Billups face separate gambling allegations. Investigators are looking into whether Rozier used insider information to bet on NBA games, while authorities have linked Billups to a Mafia-involved poker operation. Jones reportedly appears in both cases.

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, one of the vice presidents of the National Basketball Players Association, shared his perspective on the NBA’s gambling situation during a shootaround before facing the New York Knicks. Reporters asked him how it personally affects him.

“It don’t affect me,” Brown said on Friday, via MassLive’s Brian Robb. “I don’t pay attention to that stuff. People bet. Don’t bet on me, I’m going to tell you that right now, but I don’t know how it affects everybody else. That’s a personal question.”

The gambling scandal is certainly spoiling the NBA’s image, and fans, as well as players and coaches, are likely beginning to doubt the game’s integrity.

Rozier isn’t the only player under investigation for betting on the NBA. The league banned former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter for his involvement in a wire fraud conspiracy linked to a gambling scheme. The NBA cleared current free agent guard Malik Beasley of allegations of prop betting, but the FBI still considers him a “subject” of its investigation.