CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WGHP) — A former Charlotte Hornets star is under federal investigation in connection to an illegal sports betting scheme, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Terry Rozier, 30, who played for the Hornets from 2019 until 2024, is part of a large federal investigation into a group of bettors accused of rigging professional sports games.
Rozier was traded to the Miami Heat in Jan. 2024 and is playing for the Heat during the 2024-2025 NBA season.
The same investigation has already led to one former NBA player, Jontay Porter, facing criminal charges and a prison sentence as well as a lifetime ban from the NBA.
Porter was found to have been intentionally manipulating his performance for financial gain and providing confidential information to bettors.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the same group of bettors who arranged for Porter to fix games used “inside information” to wager large amounts of money against Rozier while he played for the Hornets.
Rozier for his part has yet to be accused of any wrongdoing nor has he been charged with any crime. The NBA says they investigated the matter in 2023 and did not find any violations of NBA rules.
NBA Spokesman Mike Bass released the following statement:
“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. 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.”
NBA Spokeman Mike Bass
The game in question took place on March 23, 2023, at the Smoothie King Center where the Hornets faced off against the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Pelicans won the game by a score of 115-96. Rozier, at the time one of the Hornets’ best players, only played 10 minutes before leaving the game with a sore right foot and finished with 5 points. Rozier went on to miss the remainder of Charlotte’s game that season with the injury.
A copy of that day’s injury report from the NBA shows that Rozier was not listed as an injured player for the Hornets heading into that game.
During the 2022-23 season, Rozier played an average of 35.3 minutes per game and averaged 21.1 points per game, according to Basketball-Reference.
The Wall Street Journal reports that sportsbooks were notified of strange activity on “under” bets placed on Rozier to not meet certain benchmarks such as total points scored or rebounds recorded in that March 2023 game and many stopped accepting bets on Rozier.
