Terry Rozier refuses to tackle investigation, says he has no trouble focusing on basketball

Miami (AP) – Terry Rozier refused to answer questions Friday about the investigations of federal prosecutors of unusual betting patterns around his game in a game when he was with Charlotte Hornets in 2023.

Rozier, now with Miami Heat, is linked to the same probe that led to the former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter being banned from the life of NBA, facing criminal prosecution and eventually pleading guilty to committing wire fraud.

Porter is awaiting criminal shed. There has been no indication that Rozier is under criminal investigation and he is not charged with a crime.

“On advice from a lawyer, I can’t answer questions about that matter,” Rozier said Friday. “So I won’t.”

Wall Street Journal on Thursday first reported the investigation around the Hornets-New Orleans game involving Rozier on March 23, 2023. Rozier left the game after 9 1/2 minutes and not only turned back-foot discomfort was the reason to be quoted-he was playing Not again for Hornets that season.

The NBA said it has previously investigated the Rozier situation and did not find any ligar rules were broken. It confirmed on Thursday that there is a survey by the US Law Office for the Eastern District in New York, and the league said it “cooperates with this investigation.”

Rozier – an average of 12.1 points per Fight this season – will continue to play for the heat per. Usual. Miami opens a road trip on San Antonio on Saturday.

“His status is still the same,” said Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra when asked about Rozier’s place with the team on Friday.

Rozier said he is “in a big headspace” and that he does not expect any problems to be able to focus on playing, even with the investigation that has now been publicly revealed.

“It’s always been easy. It’s been my life, ”Rozier said. “You know, when I first come in between them lines, I can block something. So it will be pretty easy for me. I’m around a large group of guys. We have a large closet room, good staff, so it’s easy for me. “

In March 23, 2023, Game, Rozier ended with five points, four rebounds and two assists during the opening period – a productive quarter, but well under his usual overall output for a complete game.

Posts still online from this date show that some bettors were furious at sports books that night when it became clear that Rozier would not return to the Charlotte-New Orleans game after the first quarter, with many turned to social Media to say that something “Shady” had continued in terms of the Prop’s betting that involved his statistics that night.

Some sports books offered Rozier Prop Inserts-Hans totals for that night, about 21.5 points, six assists and four rebounds day, then took them down hours before the start of the Charlotte-New Orleans game. It wasn’t clear why it happened and some Bettors wondered why the unusual feature had taken place. Rozier was not listed on the team’s injury report that went into the game.

The 30-year-old Rozier is in the third year of a four-year $ 96.3 million contract.

Porter’s ban came after a similar study of his performance and “Prop efforts” – efforts where Bettors can choose whether a player will reach a particular statistical standard or not during a game. Porter -The investigation started when the league learned from “licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors legal bet markets” on unusual game patterns around Porter’s performance in a game on March 20, 2024, against Sacramento.

The league decided that Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status before this game and said that another individual – known to be a NBA Bettor – placed a $ 80,000 effort that Porter would not hit the numbers that were Set for him in Parlays through an online sports book. This effort would have won $ 1.1 million.

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