Arrest of Heat's Terry Rozier triggers NBA memo on gambling 'dire risks' to careers

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Oct 27, 2025

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MIAMI — Less than a week after he was named in an FBI gambling probe and arrested, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was cited in an NBA memo issued Monday urging greater vigilance with such matters.

The memo from NBA General Counsel Rick Buchanan and NBA Executive Vice President of League Governance & Policy Dan Spillane was sent to NBA Board of Governors, team presidents, general managers and team counsel.

Obtained by the Florida Sun Sentinel, the memo reads:

“Given the spread of legal betting to the majority of U.S. states, the recurrence of integrity issues across sports, and the emergence of novel betting formats and markets, this is an opportune time to carefully reassess how sports betting should be regulated and how sports leagues can best protect themselves, their players, and their fans. While the unusual betting on Terry Rozier’s “unders” in the March 2023 game was detected in real time because the bets were placed legally, we believe there is more that can be done from a legal/regulatory perspective to protect the integrity of the NBA and our affiliated leagues. In particular, proposition bets on individual player performance involve heightened integrity concerns and require additional scrutiny.

“We have also begun a process of reviewing league policies regarding injury reporting, the training and education of all NBA personnel, and safety measures for NBA players. With sports betting now occupying such a significant part of the current sports landscape, every effort must be made to ensure that players, coaches, and other NBA personnel are fully aware of the dire risks that gambling can impose upon their careers and livelihoods; that our injury disclosure rules are appropriate; and that players are protected from harassment from bettors.

“We also are exploring ways to enhance our existing internal and external integrity monitoring programs to better utilize AI and other tools to synthesize all available data from betting operators, social media, and other sources to identify betting activity of concern.”

Rozier has been placed on administrative leave by the NBA, still listed on the Heat roster and still salaried, but away from the team.

The NBA has partnerships with and sponsorships from several gambling outlets, many of whom offer the type of proposition bets at the core of the Rozier indictment.

NBA teams are required to submit injury reports by 5:30 p.m. local time for games the following day unless they are the second games of back-to-back sets. While the reports, updated hourly, list injuries and status — from a range of available to questionable, doubtful or out — such designations often can change in the interim of such reports. During the course of games, injuries are not required to immediately be reported, even amid the increase in real-time betting that often is promoted on team game broadcasts.

Rozier has been accused by federal authorities of conspiring with a childhood friend in a gambling scheme that centered on proposition bets on his statistics from a March 23, 2023 game when he was with the Charlotte Hornets. According to the indictment released last week, Rozier told co-conspirator Deniro Laster that he would be leaving that game against the New Orleans Pelicans early. Laster, according to the indictment, sold the nonpublic information about Rozier’s status to gamblers for approximately $100,000.

The NBA subsequently investigated the gambling irregularities of that game and opted against league sanction of Rozier, who subsequently was traded to the Heat in January 2024 for Kyle Lowry and a future first-round pick.

NBA sources have told the Sun Sentinel that the Heat were not informed of the NBA’s Rozier gambling investigation at the time of the trade. The NBA has not replied to Sun Sentinel requests for comment.

The Heat host the Charlotte Hornets at 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday at Kaseya Center.

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