DENVER (Reuters) - Sheriff's deputies raided the Colorado home of Denver Nuggets center Chris "Birdman" Andersen on Thursday as part of an Internet child crimes investigation but the NBA player has not been charged or arrested, police said.
Investigators from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office seized some unspecified property during the search of Andersen's home in Larkspur, 40 miles south of Denver, police spokesman Ron Hanavan said in a statement.
Deputies from the Internet Crimes Against Children unit started the investigation of Andersen, 33, based on information they received from an unnamed California law enforcement agency, Hanavan said.
He declined to give details about the investigation or the materials confiscated, except to say that the property taken was believed to be "connected to this case."
Neither the Nuggets nor Andersen's agent, Mark Bryant, immediately responded to requests for comment. But the Denver Post quoted a Nuggets statement as saying Andersen had been excused from Thursday's playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The flamboyant Andersen, nicknamed "Birdman" for his formidable leaping ability, spiked hairdo and colorful tattoos, is a 10-year veteran of the National Basketball Association.
In 2006, the NBA suspended the 6-foot-10, 228-pound Andersen for violating the league's drug policy and reinstated him in 2008, when he then signed with the Nuggets, according to his biography on NBA.com.
(This version of the story was corrected to fix the spelling of Andersen)
(Editing by Steve Gorman and Greg McCune)