The reality began setting in for the Miami Heat on Friday when they gathered for a morning shootaround practice and Terry Rozier wasn't with the team.
And that almost certainly won't change anytime soon.
Rozier has been placed on indefinite leave by the NBA after he was arrested Thursday by federal agents and charged for his alleged role in a scheme in which prosecutors say he conspired with friends to help them win bets they made based on his performance in a March 2023 game when he was with the Charlotte Hornets.
"You support him through and through," Heat captain Bam Adebayo said in Memphis, Tennessee, before Miami's game against the Grizzlies. "That's our brother at the end of the day. It felt kind of weird without him being here, actually, because he's the first person I get to talk to in the morning. He brings that great energy to our team."
Adebayo made clear how the team still feels about Rozier.
"We stand behind him," Adebayo said. "Full support."
The Heat are now searching for ways to move on, much like how the Portland Trail Blazers must do without coach Chauncey Billups -- also arrested Thursday and placed on leave for his alleged involvement in another gambling scheme.
"Terry is somebody who is very dear to all of us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He's had a real positive impact on our locker room, and the staff and players alike, and that includes last year, when he wasn't in the rotation often times. We send our thoughts and our care for him as he goes through this."
Rozier, through his attorney, has denied any wrongdoing. The Heat aren't commenting on the legal part of the case, nor are the Hornets, the team Rozier was with during the March 23, 2023, game in question.
Rozier was in the starting lineup for Charlotte and played reasonably well in his 9½ minutes of action, with 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. That remains one of only two times in his career that he had that many points, rebounds and assists in a first quarter.
He cited foot pain as his reason for not returning to that game and sat out the final eight Charlotte games that season. The Hornets had already been eliminated from playoff contention, and it's not uncommon for players -- even those with minor injuries -- to be held out of inconsequential games toward the end of a season.
But Rozier had allegedly told a childhood friend, Deniro Laster, who has also been indicted, that he would pull himself from the game. Laster allegedly sold the information to two bettors for about $100,000. Those bettors, along with their associates and a network of proxy bettors, used the info to bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on Rozier's unders, according to the indictment.
Rozier paid for Laster to travel to Philadelphia to collect the proceeds from the scheme, according to the indictment, which also said Laster then drove to Rozier's home to count the money with him.
The Heat met as a team Thursday, hours after Rozier was arrested by federal authorities in Orlando, Florida, and spent part of that session discussing how best to support their teammate.
"That's our brother," forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. "We've had a lot of time with him. You know, see what happens. There's a lot of stuff that we don't know. Just waiting for more information to come out."
Rozier was not in the rotation for Miami's season-opening game in Orlando on Wednesday. He was in uniform and on the bench, eligible to play if the Heat decided they needed him. There was no indication that night that any legal trouble was looming.
By the time the team left Orlando on Thursday, it was obvious that Rozier wouldn't be with the club again for some time. The challenge now for the Heat, Spoelstra said, is to figure out how to move forward.
"You're left with no other choice," Spoelstra said. "The league doesn't wait. It doesn't stop for you. ... You have to learn how to compartmentalize and focus on the most immediate thing. And that's preparing for an important game tonight."
ESPN's David Purdum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.