Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups were arrested by the FBI on Thursday morning as part of an extensive federal grand jury investigation into illegal sports betting split across two cases, sources tell CBS News.
Rozier was arrested in connecting with a sports betting ring involving current and former players, including some who allegedly faked injuries, while Billups is one of 31 people being charged for allegedly taking part in illegal high-stakes poker games that involved sports coaches and were operated by organized crime figures, sources tell CBS News.
Rozier is among six people who have been charged in the former case, per ABC News. Former NBA player Damon Jones has also been arrested by the FBI as part of this extensive case, per NBC News.
FBI director Kash Patel and other federal officials are expected to announce the arrests — ranging from illegal sports betting to poker game schemes — at 10 a.m. ET in New York.
Rozier was arrested at a hotel in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday morning. The Heat were in town playing the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, a game in which Rozier did not participate as a coach’s decision. Billups was arrested in Portland, Oregon, as the Blazers are between home games.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, appearing Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” called for additional regulations to sports betting as a means of reducing potential game manipulation.
“We’ve asked some of our partners to pull back some of the prop bets, especially when they’re on two-way players, guys who don’t have the same stake in the competition, where it’s too easy to manipulate something, which seems otherwise small and inconsequential to the overall score,” said Silver, who was the first major sports commissioner in the United States to support sports betting legislation. “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.”
Sportsbooks in multiple states flagged unusual in betting activity in relation to Rozier’s statistical props prior to a game between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Hornets on March 23, 2023. In the span of 46 minutes, there were 30 wagers from a professional sports bettor that totaled $13,759 on the under for Rozier’s points, rebounds and assists, which caused several sportsbooks to close down prop betting on his statistics.
Rozier, who was on the Hornets at the time, played just 10 minutes before leaving the contest due to a foot injury.
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, previously told ESPN that Rozier met with FBI and NBA officials on multiple occasions in 2023 when the initial investigation began. Rozier maintained his innocence in relation to the case that was being investigated.
The FBI and NBA were looking into former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter, who was banned from the NBA in 2024 for his role in a sports betting scandal focused on his prop bets. Porter ended up pleading guilty to conspiracy charges; he is currently awaiting sentencing.
Porter and three other men have since pleaded guilty in the case.
Rozier never played for the Hornets again following that 2023 game; he was traded that season to the Heat in January 2024. The following season, he averaged 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 64 games with Miami.
