Brian Windhorst spent Friday morning walking back what he said the previous Thursday.
The ESPN NBA analyst claimed on The Rich Eisen Show that the NBA pulled Terry Rozier from games in 2023 after sportsbooks flagged suspicious betting activity. By Friday on Get Up, he was calling that idea a “conspiracy theory” and saying the league didn’t have the investigative power to do what he’d just accused them of.
According to Front Office Sports, Windhorst told Eisen that Rozier faked a foot injury and the NBA kept him out for the final eight games of the 2023 season. He compared it to how the league handled Jontay Porter, who got banned for life after being involved in a similar betting scandal.
“The sportsbooks caught it. They told the NBA right away. And guess what? The NBA… Rozier didn’t play the rest of the season. And he had faked the injury, so it wasn’t because of the injury. The NBA pulled him,” Windhorst said, per FOS.
wow.
Per: @WindhorstESPN on @RichEisenShow
The NBA knew about the illegal gambling scheme and tried to sweep it under the rug.
Wild.
“I just want to point something out. The sports books caught the irregular betting on Terry Rozier the day it happened… And guess what?… pic.twitter.com/0shkA6QG6n
— Savage (@SavageSports_) October 23, 2025
The NBA denied the aforementioned comments made by Windhorst on The Rich Eisen Show and pointed to medical records. Spokesperson Mike Bass told FOS that the league had nothing to do with Rozier missing those games and that team doctors confirmed the foot injury via MRI.
FOS reports that Windhorst spoke with the league after his Eisen appearance and got a different explanation. Charlotte made the decision to sit Rozier, not the NBA. The sportsbooks did flag irregular betting, and the league was aware, but the Hornets handled it internally.
Rozier was arrested on Thursday as part of an FBI probe into illegal gambling operations. Federal prosecutors say he told a friend he’d leave a March 23, 2023, game early so the friend could bet the under on his props. Rozier played 10 minutes that night before exiting with what was listed as a foot injury. He didn’t play again that season.
The timeline matters because Porter got banned for essentially the same thing. He left a game early in March 2024 after playing just three minutes, and the NBA tossed him from the league weeks later when the investigation went public. Porter pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in July and is awaiting sentencing.
Windhorst questioned on Thursday why Rozier was allowed to keep playing while Porter wasn’t. By Friday, he was explaining that the NBA lacks federal investigative authority and never said there was a conspiracy.
“It is not a good look for the NBA that he was allowed to play, but I think that underscores their limited investigative power, not a conspiracy, which implies something wholly different,” Windhorst wrote to FOS in an email.
This isn’t new territory for Rozier reporting. Shams Charania said in June that Rozier “has been cleared” during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, which led to widespread confusion about whether the federal investigation was actually over. It wasn’t.
Sportsbooks flagged betting irregularities before that March game. The NBA investigated. Rozier sat out the rest of the season, starting that same night. Two years later, he’s facing federal conspiracy charges. Whether the Hornets or the league made the call to keep him out, the optics don’t look great for anyone involved.
And as for Windhorst, he told FOS he never implied a conspiracy and was asking questions the league would need to answer. The league gave him those answers. He reported them the next morning.