PHOENIX -- Former NBA center Bison Dele considered financially cutting off his brother before the ex-player and two companions disappeared while boating in the South Pacific, according to a police report.

Dele was tired of bailing his brother, Miles Dabord, out of his problems and wanted him to take a more ''self-reliant'' approach to life, according to the Phoenix Police Department report.

In the report, Phoenix police allege Dabord used his brother's identity to try to buy $152,000 in gold in Arizona in early September.

In July, Dabord had sailed with Dele; Dele's girlfriend, Serena Karlan; and French skipper Bertrand Saldo in the South Pacific when the three vanished.

Authorities in French Polynesia have implicated Dabord, who died last week at a California hospital, in the disappearances.

Kevin Porter, the manager of Dele's business affairs, said Tuesday he never told investigators about the former athlete wanting to cut off his brother, even though police attributed such statements to him.

Sgt. Lauri Williams, a Phoenix police spokeswoman, said perhaps Porter doesn't remember saying that. Investigators take enormous care in accurately recording statements, she said.

''I don't think it was made up,'' Williams said.

In any event, Porter said Dele didn't give his brother a salary or allowance, but did help out financially and gave him a car.

''He would give him money to live on or do what he wanted to do,'' Porter said. ''Bison never questioned it. That was Bison's nature. He always took care of his family.''

Dele's mother, Patricia Phillips, told investigators in Phoenix that Dabord was somewhat estranged from their family for about three years but would return after one of his ''get-rich-quick schemes'' failed, according to the report.

The FBI's San Francisco office, which is investigating the disappearance, declined to comment.

When questioned by Phoenix police about allegations that Dabord used Dele's identity and money to try to buy gold coins, Dabord told investigators he acted on his brother's behalf.

Dabord was released from custody. Without an admission to the contrary, authorities decided they shouldn't book Dabord into jail at the time, the report said.

Dabord went to Mexico, where on mid-September he slipped into a coma, which his mother said resulted from an overdose on insulin and failure to treat his asthma.