Miami Heat star Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups were detained by the FBI in separate arrests early on Thursday for alleged illegal gambling, according to reports.
The Eastern District of New York and FBI director Kash Patel will hold a press conference at 10am ET to announce arrests from the investigation.
Rozier, 31, was detained at a hotel in Orlando, Florida, where the Heat were defeated by the Magic on the road Wednesday evening, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Rozier did not play due to a coach’s decision.
Rozier’s arrest comes after sportsbooks in multiple states flagged suspicious betting activity on the player’s statistics ahead of the Charlotte Hornets-New Orleans Pelicans game on March 23, 2023.
The interest in bets came in on the under on Rozier’s points, rebounds and assists. Sportsbooks consequently halted betting on the veteran.
The unexpected surge reportedly involved 30 wagers in 46 minutes from a professional bettor totaling $13,759
Rozier, who was suiting up for the Hornets at the time, would ultimately leave the game in less than 10 minutes of action due to what was described at the time as a ‘sore right foot.’
He had just five points, four rebounds, two assists, and a foul – numbers that appeared suspicious in the eyes of some gamblers after several sportsbooks stopped taking prop bets on Rozier that night.
The March 23, 2023, was Rozier’s final game of the 2022-23 season with the Hornets, who traded him to the Heat in January 2024.
Rozier is in the final season of a four-year, $96.3million contract that he signed with the Hornets in 2021.
It was reported in January that federal prosecutors were looking into claims that the guard manipulated his performances.
Rozier’s arrest stems from the betting scandal involving former NBA player Jontay Porter, who was banned from the league in July 2024 for his role in a gambling scheme.
The former Toronto Raptors forward pleaded guilty last year to allegations he plotted with gamblers to impact betting outcomes in their favor.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in December. He had requested permission to travel abroad and play in Greece, but was denied by a federal judge in July 2024.
Echoing findings in an NBA investigation and allegations in an ongoing prosecution of other individuals, Porter acknowledged he agreed to withdraw early from games so that co-conspirators could win bets on his performance. He did it, he said, ‘to get out from under large gambling debts.’
Four men, including Porter, have pleaded guilty in the case. Two other men have been named as conspirators and have been in plea negotiations, according to ESPN.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the league was working closely with sportsbooks to combat manipulation attempts by its players.
‘We’ve asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets, especially when they’re on two-way players, guys who don’t have the same stake in the competition, where it’s too easy to manipulate something, which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score,’ Silver said during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.
‘We’re trying to put in place — learning as we go and working with the betting companies — some additional control to prevent some of that manipulation.’
More to follow.
