If Terry Rozier is indeed guilty of taking part in an alleged NBA betting scheme, he didn’t exactly hide it well.
Internet sleuths point to his performance in a March 5 game from last season, a 112-107 Heat loss to the Cavaliers, as potential evidence of his efforts.
Rozier played 40 minutes that night, shooting a dismal 3 for 14, including just one of eight 3-point attempts, and he added four turnovers for good measure.
Terry Rozier #2 of the Miami Heat handles the ball during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 5, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images
In one notable sequence, he essentially passed the ball to the other team.
Rozier is alleged by the FBI to have used insider knowledge to tip off Mafioso bettors, with authorities pointing to a March 23, 2023 game in which he played just 9:34 for the Hornets against the Pelicans, with fellow defendants placing more than $200,000 on Unders for his prop bets that night.
Rozier left the game with a foot injury and did not return.
Rozier makes a pass that is easily intercepted. @BrickCenter_/X
Terry Rozier loses control of the ball. @BrickCenter_/XThe NBA investigated and cleared Rozier in an internal probe — long before he was arrested Thursday morning, a day after playing in Miami’s opener.
Follow The Post’s latest on the gambling scandal rocking the NBA:
- Terry Rozier could face new federal bribery charges in alleged gambling scheme
- Ex-NBA player Damon Jones expected to plead guilty in mob-tied gambling sweep
- Heat planning to cut Terry Rozier while on leave for NBA gambling investigation
- All 31 suspects in bombshell NBA poker case hauled into court as feds say plea negotiations ‘have already begun’
“A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication. They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel,” Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, said to The Post on Thursday.
“It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self-surrender they opted for a photo op. They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case.”
Rozier, along with Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and ex-NBA journeyman Damon Jones were among the 31 arrested Thursday, with all three being placed on leave by the league.
“We will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities,” the NBA said in a statement. “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
The FBI has arrested 31 people involved in a rigged poker game ring backed by the New York City organized crime families.
- Ernest Aiello — reputed Bonanno mobster
- Nelson “Spanish G” Alvarez
- Louis “Lou Ap” Apicella
- Ammar “Flapper Poker” Awawdeh
- Saul Becher — professional poker player
- Chauncey Billups — Portland Trail Blazers coach, NBA Hall of Famer and 2004 NBA champion
- Matthew “The Wrestler” Daddino
- Eric “Spooky” Earnest
- Lee Fama — professional poker player
- John Gallo
- Marco Garzon
- Thomas “Tommy Juice” Gelardo — reputed Lucchese mobster charged in 2013 for beating porn star girlfriend
- Jamie Gilet
- Tony “Black Tony” Goodson
- Kenny Han
- Shane “Sugar” Henne
- Osman “Albanian Bruce” Hoti
- Horatio Hu
- Zhen “Scruli” Hu
- Damon “Dee Jones” Jones — NBA player from 1998 to 2009
- Joseph Lanni
- John “John South” Mazzola
- Curtis Meeks
- Nicholas Minucci
- Michael Renzulli
- Anthony Ruggiero Jr.
- Anthony “Doc” Shnayderman
- Robert “Black Rob” Stroud
- Seth Trustman
- Sophia “Pookie” Wei
- Julius Ziliani
Billups and Jones are alleged to have been “face cards” — celebrity draws — to bring unwitting players into mob-run poker games rigged against them with altered shuffling machines,“poker chip tray analyzers” to secretly read cards using a hidden camera, marked cards for use with specialized glasses or contact lenses, an X-ray table.
