Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier Among NBA Gambling Arrests
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested early Thursday morning as a result of investigations related to illegal betting, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Rozier was arrested at his hotel in Orlando as part of separate investigations conducted by the FBI relating to illegal betting.
The Heat played Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic and lost, 125-121. Rozier did not see any action due to a coach’s decision.
Sportsbooks first grew suspicious of bets regarding Rozier’s statistics on March 23, 2023, when the Charlotte Hornets played the New Orleans Pelicans, according to the report. A total of $13,759 was bet on Rozier for that game, including 30 wagers placed in 46 minutes.
Jim Trusty, Rozier’s attorney, previously told ESPN that Rozier met with the FBI multiple times in 2023. The NBA looked into the matter at the time and found that no league rules were violated.
Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups was also arrested Thursday morning due to an illegal poker operation related to the Mafia, according to ABC. Billups, a member of theNaismith Basketball Hall of Fame, has served as the Blazers’ coach since 2021. The Blazers opened the 2025-26 regular season Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
According to the FBI, the illegal poker games Billups was involved in used X-Ray tables that gave certain players an advantage.
The NBA released a statement regarding the arrests of Rozier and Billups. It is currently reviewing the federal indictments announced earlier today, and spoke on the punishments for Rozier and Billups.
“Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities,” the NBA said in a statement.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers player and current assistant coach Damon Jones was also arrested this morning on charges that he provided inside information about NBA games to co-defendants, who then used it to place bets on those games, according to ABC.
According to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr., six defendants are accused of being involved in the sports betting case, and 31 defendants were allegedly involved in the rigged poker games. Jones was named a defendant in both cases.
Nocella Jr. spoke to the media today at 10 a.m. and said it was “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States.”
FBI Director Kash Patel spoke to the media along with Nocella Jr. and said that the operation had been going on for years.
“The fraud is mind-boggling. It’s not hundreds of dollars. It’s not thousands of dollars. It’s not even millions of dollars. We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multi-year investigation,” Patel said.
According to Brett Siegel from ClutchPoints, four teams were bet on as part of the illegal gambling ring due to inside information on the teams: the Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Toronto Raptors, and the Portland Trailblazers.
Category: NBA
