Free agent guard Terry Rozier has to give up the vast majority of his $26.6 million salary for the 2025–26 season after an arbitrator ruled he violated his NBA contract. The financial hit ties back to his ongoing legal battles and his alleged role in a federal sports gambling ring.

According to a motion filed in court on Wednesday, the arbitrator decided in late May that Rozier's pretrial release conditions basically made it impossible for him to do his job for the Miami Heat.

When Rozier was released ahead of his trial, the court slapped him with strict travel limits and ordered him to stay completely away from anyone connected to the Heat or the Charlotte Hornets. That meant no talking to players, coaches, or medical staff, which the arbitrator decided was a direct breach of his player agreement.

Getting to this point has been a bit of a back-and-forth process. Earlier this year, an arbitrator ruled that the Heat had to pay Rozier his full salary because the league couldn’t simply place him on unpaid leave after his initial indictment in New York. But according to Rozier’s lawyer, Jim Trusty, Miami stopped those payments almost immediately. That led to another round of arbitration in April, which resulted in this latest ruling against Rozier.

So far, the NBA, the Heat, and the Hornets have kept quiet and haven't commented on the situation.

Now, Trusty is trying to get a federal judge to change the terms of Rozier's release, specifically asking to remove the Hornets from the no-contact list. Prosecutors already agreed to remove the Heat from the list after Miami cut Rozier, but they wouldn't do the same for Charlotte.

With free agency starting later this month, Trusty argued that keeping the Hornets on that list could ruin Rozier's chances of getting signed by another franchise. He noted that if Rozier legally can't play against Charlotte, no NBA front office is going to want to lock him into a new deal.

Rozier originally pleaded not guilty in October to federal conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering charges. However, prosecutors in Brooklyn added sports bribery and honest services wire fraud to the list.

The updated indictment alleges that, back in March 2023, while playing for Charlotte, Rozier took a $100,000 bribe to tip off a group of bettors that he would fake an injury and leave a game early. Trusty said Rozier maintains his innocence and plans to plead not guilty to the new charges at his arraignment next week.