Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Heats Terry Rozier arrested in FBI sports gambling investigation
Trail Blazers coach and NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Heat guard Terry Rozier have been arrested in connection with an FBI sports betting probe, according to ESPN.FBI director Kash Patel and the Eastern District of New York will hold a press conference Thursday morning to further discuss the case and “numerous arrests in illegal sports betting and poker games schemes,” including two indictments, according to a press release.Rozier, 31, previously had been under investigation for unusual betting activity during his time with the Hornets, specifically a March 2023 contest.However, the NBA did not find any violation.“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 earlier this year.“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.”During a March 23, 2023 contest against the Pelicans, Rozier exited the game after playing the first 9:36 and did not return due to a foot issue in what would be his final game of the season.He tallied five points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in that time, and one X user posted at the time how they allegedly had been tipped off that Rozier would exit early.That knowledge would affect prop betting, where gamblers bet on a player’s statistics for a game.An “unexpected” amount of bets came in on Rozier’s Under for that game, per ESPN, which resulted in some sportsbooks preventing further wagers on his prop lines.Rozier did not comment at the time about the matter, and his attorney, Jim Trusty, told ESPN at the time that his client met several times with NBA and FBI officials in 2023 regarding the case.Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, previously told ESPN that his clie...