An arbitration ruling has allowed the NBA to withhold most of the remaining $26.6 million on Terry Rozier’s Miami Heat contract. The arbitrator found Rozier in violation of his contract, and he will forfeit the money due to his alleged role in a sports gambling scheme.
In the ruling, released in a court filing on Wednesday, the arbitrator found that, even though the NBA had put Terry Rozier on administrative leave, the terms of his release in the criminal case “rendered him in breach of his contractual obligation to play.”
According to Front Office Sports,Jim Trusty, Rozier’s lawyer, requested on Wednesday that the judge in the federal case alter the terms of his release to exclude the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets, claiming that the current terms would “likely prevent him from having any opportunity to play in the NBA.”
“Seven months after Mr. Rozier’s arrest, there is no evidence of him failing to comply with any of the conditions of his release, including the no-contact list,” the motion read. “Allowing for the possibility of employment in the NBA by modifying the Government’s no-contact provisions does not increase either the ‘danger to the community’ or ‘risk of flight’ components of determining pretrial release and conditions.”
Shortly after his arrest in October, the NBA placed him on unpaid administrative leave. The same arbitrator ruled at the time that Rozier should receive payment, even though he was on leave, after the NBA Players Association filed a grievance.
Shortly thereafter, Rozier and the NBA returned to the arbitrator after the league again claimed he shouldn’t be paid because the terms of his bond prevent him from traveling across the country or communicating with the Heat and Hornets. Rozier and the union appealed once more, but this time the arbitrator decided in favor of the league.
Federal prosecutors file additional charges against Terry Rozier
Federal prosecutors brought two new allegations against Terry Rozier on Thursday, claiming he accepted a $100,000 bribe to influence his performance in an NBA game as part of a gambling scam.
The government included additional accusations of bribery in sporting contests and honest services wire fraud conspiracy in its new indictment, according to ESPN. The NBA and the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier’s team at the time of the alleged bribe, are named as victims of the alleged conspiracy.
According to the indictment, Rozier intended to take himself out of a Hornets game in exchange for the $100,000 bribe, citing a leg injury he sustained late in the 2022–2023 season.
Before leaving the game, Rozier played for just over nine minutes. With his final stats of five points, four rebounds, and two assists, the majority of the bets were successful. The indictment claims Rozier agreed to reduce the alleged payment to $70,000 after the game because his four rebounds caused some wagers to lose.
Terry Rozier has denied participating in the bribery scheme, and his attorney, Jim Trusty, told ESPN, “The superseding indictment just confirms that our motion to dismiss was righteous — new charges, new theories, but all just a sad effort to make something stick.”