NBA Withholds Salaries of Blazers‘ Chauncey โBillups, Heat’s Terry Rozier Amid Gambling Investigations
NEW YORK – The NBA is withholding the salariesโ of Portland Trail blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terryโ Rozier following their recent arrests and indictments related to separate gambling investigations, CNBC โconfirmed Thursday. The decision comes as the league conducts a broad review of betting-related issues to “protect โthe integrity of theโ NBA โคand our affiliated leagues.”
Billups, 49, and the 31-year-old Rozierโค were placed on leave from their teams by the NBA last Thursday after their arrests. Billups, a former Detroit Pistons player inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2024, earned approximately $4.7 million for the 2024-25 season. โHe signedโ a multi-year contract extension with the Trail Blazers in April, extending through the 2026-27 season for an undisclosed amount. Rozier’s current โsalary is around $26.6 million.
The Associated Press first reportedโฃ the salary withholdings.
Rozier โฃis accused โof involvement โin a โขconspiracy where confidential basketball information was allegedly leaked to gamblers, who then used it to โคplace bets. Specifically, the indictment alleges Rozier told a co-defendant while playing for theโฃ Charlotte Hornets in March 2023 that he planned to leave โa game early โdue to a purported injury. That information was then allegedlyโฃ used to make over $200,000 in prop bets that Rozier would underperform, which paid off when he exited the game after only nine minutes.
Rozier’sโค lawyer, Jim Trusty, maintains his client’sโข innocence. “Terry is not a gambler, โbut he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight,” Trusty said last week.
Billups faces charges related to an alleged scheme with purported mafia members toโค defraud players in underground poker games using cheating devices. His lawyer,Chris Heywood,stated,”Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he isโ a man of integrity; men of integrity โฃdo not cheat and defraud others.”
The Heat declined to comment on the matter. The Trail Blazers also did not comment on the salary suspensions.
Both men are โฃcharged in separate indictments in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York.The NBA’s inquiry remains ongoing.
