Chris Andersen delayed own exoneration to avoid being a distraction during 2013 playoffs

Chris Andersen signed with the Miami Heat in December of the 2012-13 season and was a major piece of their 2013 NBA Championship, but the journey was something he couldn't properly enjoy at the time.

That's because, throughout the season and playoffs. and even before he signed in Miami, Andersen was being investigated in a complex and oft-confusing case involving stolen identity and, allegedly, child pornography. Andersen never had charges brought against him thanks to an ICAC investigation that found someone had been posing as Andersen, absolving him of wrongdoing.

Obviously, that finding should be a major weight off for Andersen, but it's one he could have experienced earlier. Wanting to avoid being a distraction during the Heat's playoff run, Andersen actually ignored investigators until the playoffs were done.

Newsweek details the story:

Then, as the playoffs started, Andersen got the call he feared would never come.

It was Cronce, offering to explain for the first time some of what she and Olson had learned and asking for his cooperation. This was the moment Andersen had been praying for over eight agonizing months. But he also knew that any public revelations, even one that exonerated him, would distract his team on their quest for a title, so he did something almost unthinkable: He ignored Cronce.
...
While his teammates went out to celebrate that night, Andersen immediately returned home with his fiancée. He sat down in his living room in a subdued state, according to Bryant, silently sipping a cup of sweet tea.

He would have to wait another three months for the investigation to conclude; in September 2013, Cronce and Olson began a tour of the United States to talk to many of Chartier’s victims. They sat down first with Andersen and Bryant in Colorado. Andersen listened intently, several times shaking his head in disbelief. The Birdman was finally free.

That's obviously a positive ending, and it speaks to Andersen's resolve that he was able to perform capably while all of that was going on.

Unfortunately, the Newsweek piece ends on a down note, as Andersen's lawyer reveals that Andersen has "become a recluse," reportedly still shaken up from the entire scenario.

[Dap PBT]