NBA Unable to Corroborate Alleged Bigoted Comment by Jazz Exec Dennis Lindsey
The NBA investigation into an alleged bigoted comment made by Jazz executive vice president Dennis Lindsey toward former Utah forward Elijah Millsap in a 2015 end-of-season meeting has been completed. The league was unable to determine that the alleged statement was made, the league announced Monday.
On Feb. 25, Millsap published a series of posts on Twitter about how bigotry is "still very well present in our country and should be exposed and expunged," adding that Lindsey made bigoted remarks in his exit interview while conversing with coach Quin Snyder.
"If you say one more word, I’ll cut your Black ass and send you back to Louisiana," Millsap wrote on Twitter, quoting Lindsey.
The NBA said all participants involved in the meeting were interviewed in the investigation, including both Lindsey and Millsap.
"The investigation also involved other parties who might have been in a position to corroborate the allegation, and the review of meeting notes of the exit interview and other pertinent information," the league said in a statement.
The Jazz said in a statement they appreciated what they called “the thorough process of the NBA’s investigation” and thanked those involved for cooperating.
“For more than 25 years, Dennis Lindsey has been a respected basketball executive around the NBA and a leading voice on social justice within our organization and community,” the team said in a statement.
As of Monday afternoon, Millsap had not commented publicly on the result.
“Obviously, I know my truth,” Millsap told The Associated Press last month. “Some outside counsel or somebody, all they can do is just try to stir it up and make it me 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.”
Millsap, the younger brother of four-time All-Star Paul Millsap, went undrafted in 2010 and played several seasons in the G League before joining the Jazz. He played 67 games with Utah before playing overseas and returning to the NBA in 2017 with the Suns.
