Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Heat guard Terry Rozier as part of a “sprawling” probe into illegal sports betting, report Jared Diamond, Louise Radnofsky and Robert O’Connell of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
According to The Wall Street Journal, Rozier is being investigated for his performance in a game on March 23, 2023, when he was playing for the Hornets. In the hours leading up to the game, there were unusual prop bets made that Rozier would fail to reach certain statistical benchmarks, raising alarms about potential suspicious activity. Sportsbooks and the NBA were alerted, and some books stopped taking bets related to Rozier’s performance that day.
After recording five points, four rebounds and two assists in nine minutes and 34 seconds of action in the first quarter, Rozier exited the game during a timeout and did not return, citing a foot issue. He did not play the final eight games of the 2022/23 season due to the injury.
Rozier has not yet been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing, and the expectation is that he’ll continue to suit up for the Heat as the investigation unfolds, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“In March 2023, the NBA was alerted to unusual betting activity related to Terry Rozier’s performance in a game between Charlotte and New Orleans,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. “The league conducted an investigation and did not find a violation of NBA rules. We are now aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York related to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation.”
“We are aware of the NBA’s 2023 investigation which determined there was absolutely no wrongdoing by Mr. Rozier and we are confident that the on-going government investigation will arrive at the exact same conclusion,” Rozier’s attorney Jim Trusty told ESPN.com.
The investigation into Rozier is part of the same government probe which saw former Raptors big man Jontay Porter plead guilty to a federal felony charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Following an investigation, Porter was banned from the NBA for violating league rules “by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.”
“Authorities believe some of the people who arranged for Porter to fix his performance in two games last season had inside information that prompted them to bet large sums of money against Rozier a year earlier,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Several gamblers have been charged in the Porter scandal, with at least two pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
So, he leaves the game with a sore foot, and that means that he was faking it to keep his stats down to meet the under?
Nothing to see here, how does anyone prove that he wasn’t in fact injured.
I mean people say Ben Simmons fakes his injuries and Jontay Porter did indeed fake an injury lol
Well, I’d imagine that if they can prove any contact with the conspirators, he’s cooked.
link to hoopsrumors.com
“Prior to the March 20 game, Porter disclosed confidential information about his health to someone he knew to be an NBA bettor. Another individual with whom Porter associated and knew to be an NBA bettor subsequently placed an $80K parlay prop bet (to win $1.1MM) at an online sportsbook, wagering on Porter to underperform in that game.”
Well your an idiot Terry but lets not White Knight this NBA…… your not only in bed with gambling your having Diddy sex parties with them so stuff like this is going to happen
Yes coming from the guy that doesn’t know your from you’re
Hopefully it’s not true…
A lot going on in Miami …. If NBA players with multi-million contracts are doing this …… How many college players getting little $$$ or nothing are doing this to get paid?????
I don’t think they allow prop bets on college players for this exact reason
Then again, with NIL, it’s becoming very rare that a consequential college player is getting little $$$ or nothing.
Does anyone still think the NBA isn’t heavily manipulated from time to time?
Is this that great Heat culture I’ve heard so much about?
It was while he played for the Hornets..
HA. In fairness to heat culture the article does say he was playing for charlotte at the time.
Airballed your comment.
Less an airball and more bashing it off the side of the backboard. Barking up the wrong tree.
I answered the Williams thing man. On Coby thread. Did you watch Bulls vs Celtics. That’s the Williams you want lol.
Terry who? (If your a Bucks fan you get it.)
Oh oh ……. not cool. Hope it’s not true. Why ruin a good gig. Heat going thru it, no.
Don’t know if Jimmy would go back to Minny. And I know they will not give him max. But he’s a better fit in Minny than Randle. He will make them better. And Randle is a better fit in Miami. Heat culture is a lot like Knicks. All about hard work and perseverance. Good place for Randle.
This isn’t like the Jontay Porter situation where he only made a couple million. He may have done it but what kind of motivation? Rozier’s made over $100 million in his career and has $50 million left in this contract. Doesn’t seem like anyone could offer him enough money to take a chance at losing $50 million. Is this like the Mafia threatening his family or something?
It’s about character, not how much money you have.
True or not, this is one more thing on Riley’s plate.
KLove should post something inspirational about this.
Butler really did a number on that Heat culture… Money money money… what a waste…