Suspicious betting activity triggers federal investigation into NBA player Terry Rozier
Jontay Porter may not have been the only NBA player involved in manipulating performance for sports bettors.
Federal investigators are looking into unusual betting activity relating to current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier during his time with the Hornets, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The U.S. attorney’s office did not immediately comment, and the Heat and the Hornets both referred to the NBA statement when asked for comment.
The 30-year-old Rozier left a March 23, 2023 game after playing the first 9 minutes, 36 seconds of that contest — and not only did not return that night, citing a foot issue, but did not play again that season. Charlotte had eight games remaining and was not in playoff contention, so it did not seem particularly unusual that Rozier was shut down for the season’s final games.
In that March 23 game, Rozier finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists in that opening period — a productive quarter, but well below his usual total output for a full game.
Rozier has not been accused of a crime or wrongdoing, the report said.
“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.”
Bettors at the time discussed that there was “inside info” going around that Rozier would leave them game early.
“At least I was in on it today,” one X user @gehrenbergdfs posted. “Got lucky that I was fed some inside info that Rozier was leaving in the first or second quarter (depending on game flow and live lines) so that his unders would hit.”
The user posted a picture of a bet on Rozier’s unders on FanDuel, a $122 bet which won $100 in profit.
Prior to being acquired by the Heat, Rozier averaged 23.2 points per game with the Hornets but has fallen dramatically to 12.1 points per game this season.
Rozier is currently in the third year of his four-year, $96,258,694 contract he signed in 2022.