NBA guard Terry Rozier will not receive a salary from the Miami Heat while he is on leave because of his arrest on federal gambling-related charges, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Rozier's salary — about $26.6 million this season, paid in installments — will be held in some account until the lawsuit is resolved, said the people, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the details have not been made public.
If Rozier is acquitted and allowed to return to the NBA, which placed him on leave hours after his Oct. 23 arrest, he will receive the full withheld payments, one of the sources said.
It is unknown whether the salary of Portland coach Chauncey Billups, who was also placed on leave by the league after his arrest on gambling charges last week, will be garnished.
Meanwhile, Rozier's lawyer said Wednesday that a federal lien filed against the player's 2021 tax bill has been satisfied.
The IRS filed a lien against Rozier in November 2023, reporting an “unpaid balance” of $8,218,211.70 for the 2021 tax year. But Rozier's lawyer, Jim Trusty, said in an email to The Associated Press that the actual amount owed to the IRS at the time was only a fraction of that amount.
“There was never an $8 million debt,” Trusty wrote. “Of the total taxes owed in 2021 ($8 million), he actually owes $9,000. This amount has been paid, but the now defunct lien still needs to be removed from the local courthouse.”
ESPN was the first to report the existence of the bond. The lien is a public record and there is no public record of its removal.
Officials in Broward County, Florida, where the lien was filed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A call to the IRS tax preparer asking for information went unanswered. Tax preparers work for the IRS to collect delinquent taxes.
Rozier owns a home in Broward County and records show his property taxes are paid in full each year. This hotel is approximately 30 miles from where the Heat play their home games.
Rozier played for the Charlotte Hornets in that 2021 tax year and is now with the Heat. He, Billups and about three dozen others were arrested last week on gambling-related charges detailed in two separate indictments.
Federal officials alleged Rozier conspired with associates to help them win bets based on his statistical performance in a game while he was with the Hornets on March 23, 2023 — more than seven months before the lien was prepared and nearly eight months before it was officially filed. Rozier played moderately in this game, and bettors who bet on him to finish “below” certain stats won those bets.
The charges against Rozier are similar to those former Toronto player Jontay Porter faced before Silver suspended him from the league in 2024.
Rozier did not play in the final eight games of the 2022-23 season as he and the Hornets cited a foot injury. At the time, the Hornets had several players injured and were already out of playoff contention.
Bookmakers discovered unusual betting patterns for the Charlotte game in question — bets involving Rozier were flagged and immediately reported to the NBA — and the league investigated the matter but did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that Rozier violated any rules. The NBA, unlike federal law enforcement agencies, does not have subpoena power.
Earlier this week, the NBA said it was considering how sensitive information such as injury reports, which are public and updated hourly, should be handled in the future. Members of the House and Senate also asked the NBA for more information.
Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, the panel's top Democrat, wrote to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver this week seeking details “about how the NBA investigated and responded to these allegations” and why the NBA allowed Rozier to continue playing.
