NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver.Nate Billings/Associated Press
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The NBA said it will place Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier on “immediate leave” after both were charged in indictments brought by the US Attorney of the Eastern District of New York.
The charges against Billups, 49, and Rozier, 31, are unknown. More than 30 people have been charged in connection with schemes involving illegal sports betting and rigged poker games backed by the Mafia, officials said Thursday.
Rozier, who played four seasons for the Celtics after being drafted by Boston in 2015, is accused in participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information, officials said. He is among six arrested.
Billups is charged in a separate but connected indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families, authorities said. He is among 31 defendants charged in a conspiracy that included rigged shuffling machines and other high-tech technology to cheat.
“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictments announced today,” the NBA said in a statement. “Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
Rozier did not play in Miami’s season opener on Wednesday night. The Trail Blazers, now without their head coach, are scheduled to host the Warriors on Friday.
The indictment of Rozier and others says there are nine unnamed co-conspirators, including a Florida resident who was an NBA player; an Oregon resident who was an NBA player from about 1997 to 2014; and an NBA coach since at least 2021, as well as a relative of Rozier.
The indictment around the illegal gambling also lists former NBA player Damon Jones, who was briefly an assistant coach with the Cavaliers and played 22 games for the Celtics in the 1998-99 season.
Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, had previously told ESPN that Rozier was told that an initial investigation determined he did nothing wrong after he met with NBA and FBI officials in 2023, the sports network reported.
“A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication,” Trusty said in a statement sent to multiple outlets Thursday.
“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. 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.”
In the sports betting scheme involving Rozier, players sometimes altered their performance or took themselves out of games early, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
In one instance, Rozier, while playing for the Hornets, allegedly told members of a gambling ring he was planning to leave the game early with a “supposed injury,” allowing them to place wagers that raked in thousands of dollars, Tisch said.
A game involving Rozier — not necessarily the one cited by Tisch — that has been in question was played on March 23, 2023, a matchup between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans.
Rozier played the first 9 minutes and 36 seconds — and not only did not return that night, citing a foot issue, but 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.
In that March 23 game, Rozier finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in that opening period — a productive quarter but well below his usual total output for a full game.
Posts still online from March 23, 2023, show that some bettors were furious with sportsbooks that evening when it became evident that Rozier was not going to return 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.
The case was brought by the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn that previously prosecuted ex-NBA player Jontay Porter. The former Toronto Raptors center pleaded guilty to charges that he withdrew early from games, claiming illness or injury, so that those in the know could win big by betting on him to underperform expectations. Porter, the brother of NBA star Michael Porter Jr., was banned from the NBA last year.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Katie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram at @katiemac.sports. Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy.