Draymond Green Defends Adam Silver Amid NBA’s Gambling Scandal

Every time an athlete runs afoul of the rules or the law, there’s always a rush to ascribe his bad behavior to the rest of his peers, too. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth. For every athlete who crosses over to the dark side, there are 10 who are model citizens, donating their time and money to uplift their communities and use their station in life for good.

Nobody wants to hear that in light of the recent NBA gambling scandal in which Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were arrested by the FBI. The panic button has been smashed repeatedly, so that everyone is now wondering how deep the rot goes. Some have even taken to blaming NBA commissioner Adam Silver, especially after the league’s investigation was unable to find any evidence of wrongdoing on Rozier’s part.

Draymond Green isn’t having it, and as we all know, he is not someone who’s afraid to speak his mind. On the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, he defended Silver and the league.

“You go to any sport, any organization, any league, there’s bad apples everywhere,” he said. “But let’s not try to act like Adam Silver has just built this league that does not care about people gambling.”

Green acknowledged the league’s partnership with online sports books, but said it’s ridiculous to think those arrangements go beyond being a simple sponsorship, just like the league has with hundreds of other companies. “Stop the bulls***,” he said. “Cut it out. We watch these gambling videos every year. They’re on top of this.”

Green even pointed out that he got fined $50,000 last year for implying that a ref cared about the point spread of the Warriors game he was officiating, so it’s not like the league is turning a blind eye to this stuff.

Silver could use any help he can get right now as he deals with this turmoil, but the fact that he’s getting it from Green, one of the most frequent recipients of league office discipline, gives the Warriors forward’s words more weight. Green could use this as an opportunity to pile on and bury Silver, but instead he’s coming to his defense.

The NBA and all other sports leagues need to be as vigilant as possible to combat these kinds of issues, because the integrity of sports is at stake. This is worse than a player getting arrested for a run-in with the law, because if fans don’t believe that what they’re watching is on the up-and-up, then they might as well just be watching wrestling.

In the wake of the scandal, the NBA sent out a memo to all 30 teams to say that it will be reviewing its procedures and education in regards to gambling, and that there is more that can be done to protect players and the integrity of the league.

There’s no way to frame this scandal as good news for the league, but if Silver uses it as an opportunity to implement better practices, then at least there will be a silver lining.