3:08 pm: The National Basketball Players Association has put out the following statement in response to the NBA’s decision to withhold Rozier’s salary, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link):
“While we are in agreement with the league that upholding the integrity of the game is of the utmost importance, their decision to place Terry on leave without pay is counter to the presumption of innocence and inconsistent with the terms of our Collective Bargaining Agreement,” an NBPA spokesperson said. “We plan to challenge their decision via the proper channels.”
12:30 pm: Reynolds clarifies (via Twitter) that Rozier’s withheld salary will be placed in an interest-bearing account rather than in escrow.
11:40 am: Heat guard Terry Rozier won’t receive his NBA salary while on leave after being arrested on federal charges related to an illegal betting scheme, reports Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
Confirming Reynolds’ report, ESPN’s Shams Charania says those pay checks will be held in escrow, pending the outcome of the FBI’s cases.
Charania adds that Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups – who was arrested in a separate but related illegal gambling case – also isn’t being paid.
Rozier has a cap hit of roughly $26.6MM this season. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the veteran guard would have received his first of 24 twice-monthly $1,110,126 pay checks later this week. If he’s eventually cleared and permitted to play in the NBA again, he would receive his full withheld salary, a source tells Reynolds.
Although Rozier isn’t being paid, the NBA also isn’t awarding the Heat any immediate cap or luxury tax relief, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel (Twitter links). Winderman hears that discussions about the Heat’s cap situation are ongoing, with Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link) confirming that there’s still a scenario in which the team could be granted some “special” relief even without the league voiding Rozier’s contract.
The Heat are currently operating right up against the luxury tax line and don’t have room to sign a 15th man in free agency without going into the tax.
Federal investigators have accused Rozier of providing inside information about his health to a friend – who sold it to bettors – and pulling himself from a March 2023 game (while he was a member of the Hornets) so that several “under” prop bets would hit. He left that game early, citing a foot injury and didn’t play for the rest of the 2022/23 season.
ESPN’s Paula Lavigne and David Purdum reported on Tuesday that Rozier faced an $8,218,211 tax lien from the Internal Revenue Service later in 2023. However, Rozier’s attorney Jim Trusty told ESPN that his client actually owed the IRS a fraction of that amount.
“Terry never owed anyone $8 million,” Trusty said. “He owed $9,000 of the total $8 million in taxes from 2021, and it has been paid. We just need the IRS to help remove the now-defunct lien.”
Trusty made an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday to further defend his client, as Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald detail, transcribing that interview. Trusty didn’t dispute the idea that Rozier told a friend about his health back in March 2023, but described it as “a situation where a friend took information and ran with it. According to Trusty, the then-Hornets guard never shared information about his availability for the purposes of illegal betting.
“I think the prosecution basically knows it, but they liked the idea of having him as a trophy in this case to kind of mirror the bigger case with Chauncey Billups,” Trusty said. “And I hope over time they will start to realize maybe a little bit of buyer’s remorse. They bit off more than they can chew.
“This is an innocent guy who’s getting completely screwed, to use some legal vernacular, in terms of his career. It’s an 11-year vet. He’s played 1,000 games. They’re latching onto a game where the NBA literally cleared him two years ago and trying to suggest that somehow they know better and that they know he was a conspirator, as opposed to just somebody who had a hurt foot.”
Getting penalized for something that politicians do on the daily is peak hypocrisy.
Rigging sports, and betting on them? What politicians do you know? They sound fun.
He says hes innocent, but they say he took a cut after the fact. One of those things cant be true.
Rozier will be making a plea deal just like most politicians do.
Agreed. Let’s let everyone of out jail to stop being so hypocritical /s.
That or put the people who have the ultimate power in jail for the very things they put people they have over in jail for
What precedent does this set? Can teams hold guys’ checks in escrow pending other felony charges? And if a guy is found innocent, isn’t not having access to your funds for an amount of time a punishment in itself?
If a judge grants a guy bail, not being able to get out because of something like this? Very interesting stuff
The NBA players have “conduct clauses” and “disrepute clauses” in their contracts. So, the NBA isn’t making this stuff up out of their rear ends or setting any new precedents.
And in what instances have they used the CBA to withhold pay pending legal issues?
For instance, was Johntay Porters g league salary not paid? (if it was even guaranteed)
Being banned from the league must contain some form of termination language that would allow the league and team to forego payment to the player.
The Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, was banned from the NBA permanently based on the conduct and disrepute clause.
Ja Morant was suspended without pay for his conduct off the court with the gun stuff. Again, based on those clauses.
Rozier’s alleged actions more directly cause disrepute on the NBA than what Sterling or Morant did. It goes to the core of if fans can trust the scores.
Being suspended isn’t the same and entails a different process per the CBA than being placed on administrative leave. I’d imagine theres a different threshold for being suspended than placed on administrative leave so that isn’t exactly a previous precedent for this.
Correct. This only screws the Miami Heat by putting him on administrative leave. Suspension would clear a roster spot.
The charges are alleged, nothing been proven yet.
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OMG how will they survive? It’s not like they are millionaires right
Rozier has a 8million dollar tax lien from 2023. So making millions and having millions clearly isn’t the same
> Rozier’s withheld salary will be placed in an interest-bearing account
Put it all in FanDuel, take the over on the Heat.
Only in 2025 do criminals seek remorse and it works!
My goodness could we use one David Joel Stern right now
Sure, never happened before . Must be Tik Tok thing.
So their defense is
“the prosecution is going to regret this”???
Guilty as sin.
awesome.. now give the Heat their cap space to not play the entire season down 2 rosters spots then
With more stuff coming out now. And more to come. Commish is going to have to come down hard on them. They are going to be banned for life lols. Too much BS here. Absolutely no respect for the game that made them. Jail time coming and losing their pension.
The league could’ve avoided having to break the CBA by doing a better investigation. Has anyone seen the clips on YouTube of Rozier throwing games? Tim Donaghy is now all over podcasts and is coming off as more honest than Adam Silver. How did the commish let the league’s reputation get so bad? I bet his investigation of the clippers will be just as flawed/biased.
“I think the prosecution basically knows it, but they liked the idea of having him as a trophy in this case to kind of mirror the bigger case with Chauncey Billups,” Trusty said.
This is such a laughably dumb quote even for a lawyer paying lip service to his client. Why would you need a teeny tiny trophy next to a gambling scheme involving the mob and prominent former athletes?
I don’t know about the rest of his claims, although I doubt he’ll be found innocent. Guess we’ll see.