A professional bettor placed 30 wagers in 46 minutes on Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, according to documents obtained by ESPN.
Rozier remains under federal investigation and has not been cleared of any wrongdoing on a potential gambling probe, despite claims from NBA insider Shams Charania earlier this year that the player was exonerated.
In January, reports surfaced that unusual betting patterns surrounding Rozier were being investigated by federal prosecutors – part of the same probe that led to the lifetime ban of former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter.
Pro Bettor Wagered $13,759 On Rozier Unders In A Single Game
On March 23, 2023, while Rozier was playing for the Charlotte Hornets, a bettor with a Mississippi sports betting app placed $13,759 in bets on the unders on Rozier’s statistics in a game that night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
That included 30 different wagers – and all of them ended up winning. Rozier left the game after just ten minutes with a ‘foot injury,’ recording a statline of five points, four rebounds and two assists.
At least six different operators across the country detected suspicious activity on Rozier props that day with the majority of activity coming from Mississippi and Louisiana betting sites.
The league investigated the matter in 2023 but found that no rules were violated. The largest bet was a $2,700 wager on under 5.5 rebounds for Rozier, made over the counter using a casino player’s card.
The remaining 29 bets were placed on a self-serve betting kiosk at a few hundred dollars a time. The sportsbook, Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi, MS, initially refused to pay out citing a house rule on ‘rigging’ and suspicion of ‘inside information.’
The casino also requested to the state gaming commission that the bets be voided entirely. They weren’t able to come up with any solid evidence however and the bets were settled a week later as the bettor collected a tidy $13,017.70 profit.
ESPN also reported that sports betting apps in New Orleans received overly heavy action on Rozier unders, beginning in the morning and lasting until midafternoon. That afternoon, U.S. Integrity sent a nationwide alert regarding “Suspicious Wagering Terry Rozier NBA Player Props.”
Within an hour of that alert, most sportsbooks stopped accepting wagers on Rozier markets. The player’s attorney, Jim Trusty, said Rozier met with NBA and FBI officials on multiple occasions in 2023 and the initial investigation concluded there was no wrongdoing.
“It’s unfortunate that he’s a big name in sports and is having to endure all this,” Trusty told ESPN.
“My hope and expectation is that at some point that they’ll be done with their investigation and will be professional enough to let us know that it’s 100% over and that they reached the same conclusion that was reached in 2023.”
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
