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The Justice Department listed seven games that resulted in high-stakes betting after nonpublic information was leaked to players.
Terry Rozier, according to the DOJ, was directly involved in one of them, while Damon Jones allegedly gave information about two Los Angeles Lakers games while he was an assistant coach for the team.
Rozier’s alleged involvement came during a match on March 23, 2023, when he told a childhood friend, Deniro Laster, that he would withdraw from a match early, citing injury, so that Laster could place bets based on the information. Neither Hornets officials nor the betting companies were informed of Rozier’s plan, according to the indictment, and Rozier was not listed on the team’s injury report.
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The general view of the Charlotte Hornets as the national anthem is sung by Mister Kim before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. Terry Rozier only played nine minutes in this game. (Stephen Lew/USA Today Sports)
Laster then allegedly sold this information to other co-conspirators, and numerous people placed bets totaling approximately $200,000 on Rozier’s “slot” bets to hit both parlay and straight bets. After Rozier played only nine minutes and never returned, the bets were won. Rozier and Laster counted the cash winnings at Rozier’s Charlotte home about a week later, the indictment says.
As for Jones, he reportedly told someone close to him that a “prominent” Lakers player would not play on February 9, 2023, before the information was public.
“Make a big bet on [the] Milwaukee [Bucks] this evening before the information is broadcast! [Player 3] came out this evening. Bet enough so the Djones can eat [sic] now!!!,” Jones allegedly texted a friend.
The DOJ says the player was ultimately ruled out due to a lower body injury – LeBron James did not play that night due to an ankle injury that kept him out two more games. The game in question took place two days after James scored 38 points to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
LeBron James (23) talks with Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue (not pictured) and former teammate Damon Jones, center, during an off-day practice before the Golden State Warriors play the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, June 6 2017. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
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Jones also gave inside information on another “one of the Lakers’ best players” 11 months later regarding an injury that might affect his performance, which ultimately backfired as the player “played well” and the Lakers won.
Another game mentioned by the DOJ was a Portland Trail Blazers-Chicago Bulls game on March 24, 2023, the day after Rozier’s nine-minute game, where a co-conspirator, “an NBA coach at the time,” allegedly told a longtime friend, who is also a defendant in the rigged poker scheme, that the Blazers would be “tagging” that night for a higher draft pick and would sit some of the best players on the team. The rest of the players were not yet made public.
The team’s top four scorers, including Damian Lillard, did not all play that night because the co-conspirators allegedly bet more than $100,000 in total against Portland.
The co-conspirator in question is listed as a former NBA player whose career spanned “from approximately 1997 to 2014” and “an NBA coach since at least 2021.” Only Chauncey Billups, also accused in the poker affair, meets this criterion. Billups is not named as a defendant in the sports betting case, which remains an ongoing investigation.
On April 6, 2023, a defendant received inside information through a connection with a then-Orlando Magic player, the indictment states.
“A co-conspirator exploited his relationship with the Magic player to learn that several of the team’s top players would not participate in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers – information that had not previously been made public. The co-conspirator relayed the information to [a defendant]who bet about $11,000 that the Cavaliers would outperform the point spread. When the roster change was later confirmed and the Cavaliers beat the Magic by 24 points, [the defendant] and the co-conspirator pocketed the winnings,” the DOJ said.
The other two games the DOJ mentioned are ones Jontay Porter opted out of early so props could hit. Porter was banned for life by the NBA and currently faces nearly four years in prison.
Jontay Porter #34 of the Toronto Raptors drives to the basket during the game against the Detroit Pistons on March 13, 2024, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images)
Rozier and Jones were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The NBA announced that Rozier and Billups had been placed on immediate leave from their teams, “and we will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities.”
“The integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the NBA said.
