Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were among dozens arrested as part of an NBA investigation into illegal gambling.
In July it was revealed a professional bettor placed 30 wagers in 46 minutes on Rozier’s statistics in a game back in March 2023, staking $13,759 and collecting $13,017.70 in profit.
While playing for the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier left the game after just ten minutes with a ‘foot injury’ and at least six different operators across the US detected suspicious activity on Rozier props that day.
The league investigated the matter in 2023 but found that no rules were violated however Rozier remained under federal investigation and the FBI made their move on Thursday to arrest the 31-year-old.
Rozier’s lawyers denied the allegations to CBS News, saying: “Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight and he looks forward to winning this fight.”
A total of six people were detained over alleged betting irregularities. Billups was named in a separate indictment, one of 31 players charged in an illegal poker game case involving retired players and the mafia.
This summer, NBA legend Gilbert Arenas was arrested and charged with hosting illegal high-stakes poker games at his mansion in California on one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
The indictment involving Arenas alleged he rented out his house and one of his associates staged the mansion for the poker games. One of those conspirators is believed to be Yevgeni ‘Giora’ Gershman, a suspected high-level member of an Israeli organised crime group.
The case involves four of the five major crime families in New York, uncovering an alleged scheme to lure victims into playing rigged poker games alongside high-profile sports stars before stealing millions of dollars.
They did so using technology like special contact lenses and glasses that could read pre-marked cards and an X-ray table.
This is just the latest gambling scandal to rock the NBA world and follows the lifetime ban of former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, who disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and bet on games himself.
In August, it was announced former Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley was no longer the target of a gambling probe being conducted by the Eastern District of New York.
Beasley was the subject of suspicious betting activity starting in January 2024 when playing for the Milwaukee Bucks.
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.
