“I see our role here as a fact finder,” Silver told ESPN.com, also noting he isn’t “prejudging” anything about the occurrence.
MORE: Sefolosha blames police | Copeland overwhelmed by support
During the arrest, Sefolosha broke his right fibula and had ligament damage. He had surgery in Charlotte, N.C., but will miss the NBA playoffs.
“It’s a huge loss for the league to not have him on the floor. Obviously, a huge loss to the Atlanta Hawks to not have a player of his skill going to the playoffs,” Silver said.
Sefolosha and Antic were arrested outside 1OAK nightclub in New York City for interfering with a crime scene. Pacers forward Chris Copeland was stabbed there earlier in the night during a separate incident.
The arrest was caught on video and shows a group of police officers wrestling Sefolosha to the ground and another officer pulling a baton. Sefolosha filed a complaint stating that he broke his leg during the incident.
“I don’t think – to the extent the police, based on what we all saw in that video, may have broken his leg, doesn’t speak to justification, and I think that’s the ultimate issue,” Silver said. “I don’t think it’s the league’s role to play sort of an aggressive role here.
“We have, on behalf of our employee, a desire to understand precisely what went on here and to learn from it frankly, in terms of other players who might be in situations with law enforcement.”
