ORLANDO – A federal gambling investigation more than a year in the making has resulted in the arrest Thursday of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who was taken into custody amid the team’s season-opening road trip.
The arrest was confirmed in a statement issued Thursday by the FBI, stemming from, according to the agency, “two indictments involving illegal gambling schemes.”
In a release from the Department of Justice, the arrest was part of a sweep of arrests involving “illegal sports betting and and poker games schemes.”
Rozier was at the team’s downtown Orlando hotel at the time of the arrest, which has been confirmed to the South Florida Sun Sentinel by multiple NBA sources.
It was later reported by multiple media outlets that Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, the Hall of Fame former All-Star guard, also was part of the sweep.
Rozier, 31, has been under investigation as part of a probe related to unusual betting patterns in a 2023 game while he was a member of the Charlotte Hornets, prior to his January 2024 trade to the Heat for Kyle Lowry and a future first-round pick.
In a January ESPN story, it was reported, “On the morning of March 23, 2023, a bettor at a sportsbook in Biloxi, Mississippi, placed $13,759 in bets on the unders on Rozier’s statistics in a game that night between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans, according to the documents, which ESPN acquired through an open records request. All 30 bets won, after Rozier, an eight-year veteran with the Hornets at the time, exited 10 minutes into the game, citing a foot issue.”
The uncertainty over Rozier’s status reached the point that Rozier appeared confused when told during an interview Sunday that he had been cleared to return from his preseason hamstring injury, with Rozier initially believing the word “cleared” was being used in regard to the FBI investigation.
Rozier was mentioned in a Jan. 30 Wall Street Journal report about being linked to the gambling investigation that eventually led to the NBA lifetime disqualification of former Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors forward Johntay Porter, who is now facing criminal charges.
Rozier is in the final year of a contract that pays him $26.6 million for the coming season. If Rozier were to be ruled ineligible by the NBA, such remaining salary at the time of such an NBA ruling would be wiped from the Heat’s salary cap, luxury tax and tax aprons. The Heat currently are operating slightly below the NBA’s punitive luxury tax.
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Rozier struggled with the Heat last season to the point where he lost his starting role and eventually rotation role. With the Heat re-signing guard Davion Mitchell ahead of free agency and selecting Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis in last month’s NBA draft, the prospects for Rozier earning playing time this coming season are limited, should he remain NBA eligible. He did not play in Wednesday night’s season-opening loss to the Orlando Magic at Kia Center, one of only two available players on the Heat’s standard roster who did not see action.
FBI statement issued Thursday.
According to a Wall Street Journal report in January: “Federal prosecutors have been investigating whether veteran NBA player Terry Rozier manipulated his performance as part of an illegal sports betting scheme. The inquiry into Rozier is part of a wider government probe into a sprawling ring of gamblers and poker players who have allegedly rigged games across the sports landscape, people familiar with the matter said.”
The Heat last season did not make Rozier available for comment on the matter, with ESPN at one point indicating that the federal investigation into Rozier had concluded. However multiple media outlets reported Rozier remained under investigation, as proved to be the case..
In a recent ESPN report, Rozier’s attorney Jim Trusty was quoted as saying: “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.”
The NBA has attempted to walk a fine line between gambling sponsorship and the impact on the game.
During an appearance in ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, “We’ve asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets . . . 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.”
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/10/23/miami-heats-terry-rozier-arrested-in-fbi-gambling-probe/
