MIAMI -- Unusual betting patterns surrounding the play of then-Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier in a game nearly two years ago are now under investigation by federal prosecutors, part of the same probe that led to the lifetime ban of Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, the NBA confirmed Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the investigation, noting that Rozier, who played for the Hornets at that time and now plays for the Miami Heat, has neither been charged with a crime nor has he been accused of wrongdoing.
The NBA said it looked into the matter at the time and did not find that any league rules were broken.
"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 in a statement, first released to The Wall Street Journal and then to other outlets. "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."
The U.S. Attorney's office did not immediately comment. The Heat referred to the NBA statement when asked for comment.
"We are aware of the NBA's 2023 investigation which determined there was absolutely no wrongdoing by Mr. Rozier and we are confident that the on-going government investigation will arrive at the exact same conclusion," Rozier's attorney Jim Trusty said.
The game involving Rozier that is in question was played March 23, 2023, a matchup between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier played the first 9 minutes, 36 seconds of that game -- and not only did he not return that night, citing a foot issue, but he did not play again that season.
Charlotte had eight games remaining and was not in playoff contention, so it did not seem particularly unusual that Rozier was shut down for the season's final games.
In that March 23 game, Rozier finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in the opening period -- a productive quarter, but well below his usual total output for a full game.
Posts still online from March 23, 2023, show some bettors were furious with sportsbooks that evening when it became evident that Rozier was not going to return to the game after the first quarter, with many turning to social media to say that something "shady" had gone on regarding the prop bets involving his stats for that night.
One frustrated bettor posted an image of a ticket for a three-leg parlay where a $65 wager would have returned $401.95. The bettor played over 6.5 goals in the Tampa Bay-Ottawa NHL game and over 8.5 rebounds for Julius Randle, both of which hit. But the ticket didn't cash because Rozier finished well below his prop bet of 32.5 combined points, assists and rebounds. The bettor picked Rozier to exceed those numbers.
Some sportsbooks offered Rozier prop bets -- his totals for that night were generally set around 21.5 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds -- on March 23, then took them down hours before the start of the Charlotte-New Orleans game. It was not clear why that happened, and some bettors wondered aloud why that unusual move had taken place. Rozier was not listed on the team's injury report going into the game.
Rozier, 30, is in the third year of a four-year, $96.3 million contract.
Porter's ban came after a similar investigation into his performance and "prop bets" -- wagers where bettors can choose whether a player will reach a certain statistical standard or not during a game. Last April, the NBA banned Porter for life after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games, even betting on his team to lose.
Porter was criminally prosecuted and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is awaiting sentencing.
The Porter investigation started once the league learned from "licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors legal betting markets" about unusual gambling patterns surrounding Porter's performance in a game on March 20, 2024, against Sacramento. The league determined that Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status prior to that game and said that another individual -- known to be an NBA bettor -- placed an $80,000 bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sportsbook. That bet would have won $1.1 million.
Bettors tried to get as much money down as possible, parlaying the unders on Rozier's statistics, including rebounds, ahead of the March 23, 2023 game, sources familiar with the betting told ESPN's David Purdum.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.