Judge refuses to clear Rozier's path back to basketball

BROOKLYN (CN) — Former — and hopeful future — NBA player Terry Rozier violated a court order when he texted a former teammate to say he wasn’t allowed to communicate with him, a federal judge said Wednesday as she declined to loosen no-contact restrictions on the indicted player while he awaits trial.

Rozier is barred from contacting 12 players, including 7 former Charlotte Hornets teammates, while he fights accusations of intentionally undercutting his performance in at least one game for the Hornets to benefit a group of bettors. The 32-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges including bribery in sports, honest services wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

Now a free agent after being waived by the Miami Heat in April, Rozier is out on a $3 million bond secured by his South Florida home. He’s barred from gambling both in person and online, and from contacting former players who could be witnesses at his February 2027 trial.

Arguing that the restriction has effectively ended his NBA career, Rozier’s attorney asked U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall to modify his bond, noting the players he’s not allowed to contact are now “scattered on four different teams.”

“The court can fashion an order that permits … Mr. Rozier to play basketball,” so long as he doesn’t discuss the case, Miami-based attorney David Markus argued.

In rejecting the request, Hall pointed to an incident this spring in which Rozier replied to a text message from someone on the no-contact list. It didn’t matter to the judge that Rozier’s response was simply saying they weren’t allowed to speak.

“There’s no question that he contacted them,” said Hall, a Barack Obama appointee. “What that says to me is that he believes he knows better than the court.”

The judge also pointed to the impracticality of having an attorney present during games or practices, as Markus suggested, to monitor Rozier’s interactions with other players.

“Unless you’re suiting up, that doesn’t help me,” Hall said. “The request, as it’s been formulated, is denied.”

Rozier also asked Hall to lift the international travel restriction since, in the event he gets signed, it would prevent him from traveling to Canada to face the Toronto Raptors. After hearing from both defense and government attorneys, Hall tabled the international travel issue, to be raised again in the event Rozier gets picked up by another team.

Markus appeared for Rozier after his previous defense attorney, James Trusty of Ifrah Law, withdrew from the case.

Following Wednesday’s hearing the attorney from Markus/Moss Law Firm seemed eager to fight the case.

“I wish we were starting trial on this case, because Terry’s innocent and we look forward to showing the world that he had no involvement in this,” Markus said.

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