MIAMI – Former Utah guard Elijah Millsap said on Friday that he had not yet heard from any investigating officer about his allegation that Jazz executive Dennis Lindsey made a major comment on him during an end to the 2015 season. .
Millsap also expressed doubts that a fair investigation could take place regarding his allegation that Lindsey, who was then the general manager of the team and is now an executive vice president, threatened to cut off his ‘Black ass’ and take him home. to send.
Millsap made the allegation in a tweet on Wednesday. The Jazz responded on Thursday, saying in a statement that they would bring in outside attorneys to conduct a thorough investigation with the NBA.
“It’s clear I know my truth,” Millsap said in an interview with The Associated Press. ‘Some outside advisers or someone, they can just try to raise it and make it [me] seems to be lying. I basically did it to free myself from the torture to keep things going, to free myself, not to make Dennis Lindsey feel bad and not make him look like a racist. I do not feel he is a racist, but I do know what he said to me. ‘
NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed the league’s involvement Friday.
“We take allegations of discrimination seriously, so we also take the rights of those accused, and therefore we conduct full investigations,” Silver said. “And in this case, the investigation is being done in partnership and in collaboration with the Utah Jazz.”
Millsap has played in 67 games for the Jazz over two seasons. The incident comes from an exit meeting in April 2015, which according to Millsap, the brother of Utah’s longtime standout Paul Millsap, was also attended by Jazz coach Quin Snyder.
General Manager Justin Zanik, who was then an assistant general manager who had to keep the detailed notes of the conversation, was also present at the meeting, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Those notes were included in a team database and will be examined as part of the investigation, sources said.
Millsap said he remembered he had “high energy” to enter that meeting and was eager to hear what Lindsey and Snyder would say to him.
“I expected good feedback,” Millsap said. “And then it made a bad turn.”
Millsap posted on Twitter that Lindsey told him, “If you say one more word, I’ll cut your black ass and send you back to Louisiana.”
Millsap met reporters shortly after leaving the meeting with Snyder and Lindsey and showed no signs of upset. He resigned from the Jazz in January 2016, a day before the rest of his contract for that season would have been guaranteed, he said. Such moves are not uncommon with non-guaranteed transactions.
Lindsey denied making the remark. Snyder said he does not recall it, and defended Lindsey again Friday before the Jazz played in Miami.
“I’ve never heard of Dennis’ distance,” Snyder said. “I did not hear anything, as I said, at a distance from it and know him and his character. And I also think that if I were to say something like that, I would be sensitive to those issues and I would remember it.”
Millsap has appeared in just two more NBA games after the Jazz distanced himself from him, saying he believes the team did not speak well of him when other teams asked about his background. He said he still practices a few hours a day and wants to resume his spelling career.
Millsap said he had no specific resolution that would satisfy him.
“These guys, they had the opportunity to tell people the truth about who I was,” Millsap said. “And they did not do it. It is disgusting to me.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.