Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups, a former NBA star and head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, were arrested on Thursday in connection with a federal gambling-related investigation, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Rozier, who joined the Heat in 2024 after being traded from the Charlotte Hornets, was arrested Thursday morning in Orlando, Florida. It is not immediately clear where Billups was taken into custody, but the Trail Blazers played a game in Portland last night.
Alongside Rozier and Billups, members and associates of organized crime groups are also among the couple dozen individuals expected to face criminal charges in two separate illegal gambling-related cases. The FBI and other officials are scheduled to announce these charges later Thursday morning, according to sources.
A native of Ohio and a 10-year NBA veteran, Rozier was selected 16th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2015 NBA Draft after playing college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals. Details about which specific case Rozier is allegedly involved in have not yet been released.
In recent years, investigations into gambling-related activities have increasingly extended to active NBA players. For example, Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter pleaded guilty in federal court and was banned by the NBA for life in 2024 for violating the league’s sports gambling rules. According to the NBA, Porter placed bets on NBA games and disclosed confidential information about his own participation to bettors. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Stay tuned for more updates as the investigation develops and additional information becomes available.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/miami-heats-terry-rozier-arrested-federal-gambling-related-investigati-rcna239306