Betting patterns surrounding play of Rozier being investigated

MIAMI — Unusual betting patterns surrounding the play of then-Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier in a game nearly two years ago are now under investigation by federal prosecutors, part of the same probe that led to the lifetime ban of Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, the NBA confirmed Thursday. The Wall Street Journal first reported the investigation, noting that Rozier — who played for the Hornets on the date in question, and now plays for the Miami Heat — has not been charged with a crime, nor has he been accused of wrongdoing. The NBA said it looked into the matter at the time and did not find that any league rules were broken. "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 in a statement, first released to The Wall Street Journal and subsequently released to The Associated Press and other outlets. "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." The U.S. Attorney's office did not immediately comment. The Heat and the Hornets both referred to the NBA statement when asked for comment. The game involving Rozier that is in question was played March 23, 2023, a matchup between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier played the first 9 minutes, 36 seconds of that game — and not only did not return that night, citing a foot issue, but did not play again that season. Charlotte had eight games remaining and was not in playoff contention, so it did not seem particularly unusual that Rozier was shut down for the season's final games. In that March 23 game, Rozier finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists in that opening period — a productive quarter, but well below his usual total output for a full game. Posts still online from March 23, 2023 show that some bettors were furious with sportsbooks that evening when it became evident that Rozier was not going to return to the Charlotte-New Orleans game after the first quarter, with many turning to social media to say that something "shady" had gone on regarding the prop bets involving his stats for that night. One frustrated bettor posted an image of a ticket for a three-leg parlay where a $65 wager would have returned $401.95. The bettor played over 6.5 goals in the Tampa Bay-Ottawa NHL game and over 8.5 rebounds for Julius Randle, both of which hit. But the ticket didn't cash because Rozier finished well below his prop bet of 32.5 combined points, assists and rebounds. The bettor picked Rozier to exceed those numbers. Another bettor posted that night of getting "some inside info" that Rozier was leaving that game early and showed an image of how he turned a $122 wager into a $222 payout. Some sportsbooks offered Rozier prop bets — his totals for that night were generally set around 21.5 points, six assists and four rebounds — on March 23, then took them down hours before the start of the Charlotte-New Orleans game. It was not clear why that happened, and some bettors wondered aloud why that unusual move had taken place. Rozier was not listed on the team's injury report going into the game. The 30-year-old Rozier is in the third year of a four-year, $96.3 million contract. Porter's ban came after a similar investigation into his performance and "prop bets" — wagers where bettors can choose whether a player will reach a certain statistical standard or not during a game. Last April, the NBA banned Porter for life after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games, even betting on his team to lose. The Porter investigation started once the league learned from "licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors legal betting markets" about unusual gambling patterns surrounding Porter's performance in a game on March 20, 2024, against Sacramento. The league determined that Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status prior that game and said that another individual — known to be an NBA bettor — placed an $80,000 bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sports book. That bet would have won $1.1 million. The specifics of the bets that triggered the probe into the Hornets-Pelicans game are unknown.