Heat’s Terry Rozier under federal investigation as part of illegal sports betting probe
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier manipulated his performance as part of an illegal sports betting scheme.
The game being looked at came on March 23, 2023, when Rozier was a member of the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier hasn’t yet been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the news.
The Heat is referring requests for comment on the investigation to the NBA.
“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.”
A representative for Rozier was unable to be reached for comment.
“The betting on Rozier was strange enough that day [March 23, 2023] to raise alarms at U.S. Integrity, a firm that works with sports entities, gambling operators and government agencies to monitor betting markets for suspicious activity,” The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
“U.S. Integrity notified sportsbooks — and the NBA — that unusual wagers were coming in on Rozier failing to meet certain statistical benchmarks, such as the total number of points or rebounds he would record in the game. Some of the sportsbooks stopped accepting bets on Rozier’s stats that day, people familiar with the matter said.
“During the previous two seasons, U.S. Integrity sent out just three alerts about NBA games, people familiar with the matter said. Two of those were about games involving [former Raptors forward Jontay] Porter. The other was the game involving Rozier.
“Rozier started for the Hornets against the New Orleans Pelicans that night seemingly fit to play. He had been one of Charlotte’s best players, averaging 35 minutes and 21 points a game.
“In this game, however, Rozier played just over nine minutes before being substituted out during a timeout. He left with a foot injury and didn’t return. Rozier would miss the remaining eight games for the struggling Hornets.”
Rozier totaled five points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting on threes, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in 9:34 before leaving the Hornets’ loss to the Pelicans early with a foot injury on March 23, 2023. He didn’t play again that season.
The investigation into Rozier is part of a larger government probe that led to a criminal charge and lifetime ban from the NBA for Porter.
“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.
The Heat learned about the federal investigation into Rozier on Wednesday night. The expectation is that Rozier will continue to play for the Heat during the government’s investigation.
Rozier, who was traded to the Heat midway through last season in January 2024, has averaged 12.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 41 percent from the field and 29 percent on threes in 42 games (21 starts) with the Heat this season. His production is down from last season, when he averaged 19.8 points, four rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 36.3 percent from three-point range between his time with the Heat and Hornets.
Rozier, 30, has one season remaining on his contract after this season before he can become a free agent in 2026. He’s due $26.6 million next season, with $24.9 million of that salary already guaranteed.
Unlike team-issued suspensions that don’t translate into salary-cap relief, an NBA suspension of Rozier would give the Heat salary-cap and luxury-tax relief (but not relief toward the aprons) of 50 percent of the salary lost during a suspension. Being expelled from the NBA would completely remove Rozier’s salary from the Heat’s payroll.
The Heat traded Kyle Lowry’s $29.7 million expiring contract and a first-round pick to the Hornets to land Rozier in the middle of last season.
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 2:09 PM.
