30 bets, $14,000
More details have come to light about the suspicious betting activity around Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. We already knew the March 23, 2023 game when Rozier was on the Charlotte Hornets was under the microscope in the federal investigation, but now ESPN has uncovered just how shady the game looked.
The largest was for $2,700 on Rozier going under 5.5 rebounds.
As reported by David Purdum, the morning of the contest between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans a single bettor placed 30 wagers in less than an hour at Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi, Mississippi. Totaling $13,759, every bet was on a Rozier “under” prop bet. The largest was for $2,700 on Rozier going under 5.5 rebounds.
That one was made at the sportsbook counter, while the other 29 were placed at a self-serve kiosk before the betting window opened.
Rozier pulled himself from the game after ten minutes, complaining of a bad foot. As a result, all of the gambler’s under wagers won. Rozier finished the game with five points, four rebounds, and two assists. He sat out the rest of the season.
Casino didn’t want to pay
The NBA investigated the suspicious betting at the time, but found no violation of league rules. But this past January, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rozier was under federal investigation.
Those 30 bets were not the only ones on Rozier that day. According to Purdum, “at least” six sportsbooks in multiple states flagged unusual activity on Rozier prop bets for the Charlotte-New Orleans game. Sports betting watchdog U.S. Integrity sent an alert to sportsbooks titled “Suspicious Wagering Terry Rozier NBA Player Props” at 2:24pm the day of the game, which tipped off at 8pm. Most bookmakers stopped taking Rozier prop bets shortly thereafter.
Harrah’s Gulf Coast withheld the aforementioned bettor’s winnings at first, suspecting that something was amiss, and asked the Mississippi Gaming Commission if it could void the bets. The Commission asked Caesars, the casino’s operator, if it had proof that there were any shenanigans, and apparently, Caesars did not, as it paid the customer, netting the person $13,017.70.
Connection to Jontay Porter
The investigation covers not just Rozier and that specific game, but is linked to the probe that nabbed the Toronto Raptors’ Jontay Porter and several gambling co-conspirators. While Rozier has not been accused of anything, the suspicious betting surrounding the game in question has the same look as those that Porter manipulated for betting purposes.
Porter took himself out of two games in early 2024, one complaining of an illness, the other saying he reaggravated a previous eye injury. Because he played just a few minutes in each contest, he did not hit the prop bet marks established by sportsbooks, allowing his co-conspirators to win their “under” bets.
Porter pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and has been banned from the NBA for life.
