Terry Rozier’s legal team is asking a federal judge to modify the conditions of his release because they affect his NBA career.
Wednesday’s filing asked U.S. District Judge LaShan D’Arcy Hall for the Eastern District of New York to lift restrictions that prevented Rozier from having any contact with the Hornets, which were put in place as part of the conditions of his pretrial release.
Rozier, 32, faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and will be tried on additional charges of sports bribery and honest services fraud, in connection with a sports betting scheme that federal prosecutors allege he was part of.
Jim Trusty, Rozier’s attorney, argued in the lawsuit Wednesday that the restriction impacts an arbitration case between the player and the Heat regarding his base salary for 2025-2026.
An arbitrator originally ruled in favor of Rozier, but later concluded that, because of the conditions of his release, he had violated his contract.
Trusty also believes it will influence teams from contacting Rozier about playing for them, with NBA free agency set to begin in less than a month.
“With the NBA free agency process officially starting on June 30, keeping the Hornets on the no-call list will likely prevent him from having any opportunity to play in the NBA,” Trusty wrote, per ESPN. “Under the arbitrator’s current ruling, the inability to play for or against the Charlotte Hornets would constitute a ‘failure to perform services’ by Mr. Rozier and significantly reduce or eliminate any opportunity to sign with an NBA team.”
Rozier was charged for his role in the alleged scheme, which included pulling himself from a game on March 23, 2023, while he was still playing for the Hornets.
Rozier was traded to the Heat in January 2024 and spent two seasons in South Beach before being waived in April.