No proof of racist remarks by Jazz
The NBA said Monday that an investigation into whether former Utah Jazz player Elijah Millsap had a bigoted remark directed at him during an end-ofseason interview six years ago has ended and was unable to find proof that the statement was made.
Millsap alleged last month that Dennis Lindsey, then the team’s general manager and now its executive vice president, said “if you say one more word, I’ll cut your black ass and send you back to Louisiana” during an April 2015 meeting.
Lindsey denied saying that, and the NBA’S review — done by the league and with independent counsel — could not prove otherwise. Millsap and Lindsey were both interviewed, the NBA said, as were others who were part of that meeting. That would include Jazz coach Quin Snyder, who has said he was in the meeting but had no recollection of Lindsey using those words.
“The investigation was unable to establish that the alleged statement was made,” the NBA said.
“Obviously, I know my truth,” Millsap said in an interview last month with the Associated Press. “Some outside counsel or somebody, all they can do is just try to stir it up and make it look as if I’m lying. I did it basically to free myself from the torture of holding things in, to free myself, not to make Dennis Lindsey feel bad and not to make him look like a racist. I don’t feel he is a racist, but I do know what he said to me.”
Butler averaging two steals a game
After stealing off into the night Sunday in Orlando, his late-game takeaway sealing the Miami Heat’s victory over the Orlando Magic, Jimmy Butler awoke Monday as the lone player in the NBA averaging at least two steals per game.
You won’t find him among the formal list of league leaders at the moment, ineligible to qualify because of his 14 missed games, but Butler’s five steals against the Magic has him with the eighth highest total in the league even with that lost time.
“He has some very disciplined gambles,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the uniqueness of Butler’s approach. “I know that’s counter-intuitive. But I’ve coached players that would totally take themselves out of a play. Jimmy is a very disciplined team defender.”