Three people are charged in both schemes.
Watch live as US attorneys and FBI Director Kash Patel make statements here.
The charge or charges Rozier and Billups face were not immediately known, according to the Associated Press.
The indictment around the illegal gambling also lists former NBA player Damon Jones, who was briefly an assistant coach with the Cavaliers and played 22 games for the Celtics in the 1998-99 season.
The NBA had no immediate comment. The league has investigated Rozier previously and still is looking into the actions of former Detroit player Malik Beasley, one of the sources told the AP.
Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, previously told ESPN that Rozier was told that an initial investigation determined he did nothing wrong after he met with NBA and FBI officials in 2023, the sports network reported.
“A long time ago we reached out to these prosecutors to tell them we should have an open line of communication,” Trusty, Rozier’s attorney, said in a statement sent to multiple outlets Thursday.
“They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel. It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self surrender, they opted for a photo op. They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case.”
The case was brought by the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn that previously prosecuted ex-NBA player Jontay Porter. The former Toronto Raptors center pleaded guilty to charges that he withdrew early from games, claiming illness or injury, so that those in the know could win big by betting on him to underperform expectations. Porter, the brother of NBA star Michael Porter Jr., was banned from the NBA last year.
The Celtics drafted Rozier, who played four seasons in Boston before being traded to the Hornets for Kemba Walker in 2019.Keith Bedford
Rozier, 31, was drafted by the Celtics in 2015. He played four seasons in Boston before being traded to the Hornets for Kemba Walker in 2019. He was traded from Charlotte to the Heat in January 2024, and is in the final year of a four-year contract.
A game involving Rozier that has been in question was played on March 23, 2023, a matchup between the Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans. Rozier played the first 9 minutes and 36 seconds of that game — and not only did not return that night, citing a foot issue, but did not play again that season. Charlotte had eight games remaining and was not in playoff contention, so it did not seem particularly unusual that Rozier was shut down for the season’s final games.
In that March 23 game, Rozier finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists in that opening period — a productive quarter but well below his usual total output for a full game.
Posts still online from March 23, 2023, show that some bettors were furious with sportsbooks that evening when it became evident that Rozier was not going to return to the Charlotte-New Orleans game after the first quarter, with many turning to social media to say that something “shady” had gone on regarding the prop bets involving his stats for that night.
Billups was drafted by the Celtics No. 3 overall in 1997 and played 51 games under coach Rick Pitino before being traded at the deadline. In his 17-year career, he won one title with the Pistons (2004). He went into coaching in 2020 and has been the coach of the Trail Blazers since 2021. Portland has not made the playoffs in his four years at the helm.
Information from wire services was used in this report.
Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy. Katie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram at @katiemac.sports.