Police Find No Evidence of ‘Fixed’ NBA Game

Phoenix police were told two days before the Feb. 21 NBA game between the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks that a bar manager traded cocaine for a promise from players to “assure a certain point total” for a bet on the game, according to reports police have kept secret for two months.

However, an intensive police investigation found no drugs or evidence that NBA players agreed to fix games for gamblers, according to a 1,128-page report, the Mesa Tribune reported in its Sunday editions.

What they did find was a collection of allegations that players and others used small quantities of drugs for nearly a decade--allegations used to indict some players and to induce others to testify against their teammates before a Maricopa County grand jury.

A source told police that nightclub owner Jimmy Jordan met with Jack Sikma and Paul Mokeski of the Milwaukee Bucks in Jordan’s office on Feb. 19 and used cocaine.

On the day of the game, the informant called to say Jordan, after playing golf with Sikma, said: “The players were going to keep (the combined) score under 224, and that was the way to bet.”

Milwaukee won the game, 115-107, for a total of 222 points, while the Suns committed 26 turnovers.

Police failed to find evidence that Sikma played golf with Jordan that day, and both players have denied allegations of point fixing or drug use.

Thirteen people were indicted in the case, including Suns’ center James Edwards and guards Grant Gondrezick and Jay Humphries, plus former Sun players Garfield Heard and Mike Bratz.