Damon Jones Pleads Guilty to Illegal NBA Betting Scheme

Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones pleaded guilty on Tuesday, becoming the first of several individuals indicted by the FBI in an illegal gambling investigation. The probe has already led to the arrest of over 30 people, including basketball figures and alleged mobsters.

Jones, 49, admitted guilt to a single charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a Brooklyn federal court in New York. His sentencing, scheduled for January 6, 2027, could result in a prison term of 21 to 27 months. The former guard also agreed to forfeit $35,000.

In a prepared statement read in court, Jones acknowledged conspiring with others to defraud sports betting companies, utilizing "inside information I obtained as a result of my relationships as a former player."

"I would like to sincerely apologize to the court, my family, my peers, and also to the National Basketball Association [NBA]," stated Jones, who played 11 seasons in the league, with stints at the Nets, Celtics, Warriors, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Pistons, Kings, Bucks, and Heat.

The conspiracy, which ran from December 2022 to March 2024, aimed to leverage his insider knowledge for profit through betting sites. The indictment alleges this privileged information pertained to injuries of NBA stars. Jones admitted his actions violated the league's code of conduct and the terms of service of the betting platforms.

According to court documents, Jones was accused in separate proceedings of profiting from rigged poker games and providing non-public information about the injuries of stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis to bettors. The indictment claims Jones sold, or attempted to sell, information indicating that James and Davis were injured and, therefore, would not play or would have reduced playing time in certain games.

Jones was arrested last October, alongside other figures such as former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Trail Blazers head coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups. Jones is one of three individuals charged in both schemes: the sports betting operation and the rigged poker games.

In the poker scheme, the prosecution alleges that Jones and other former NBA players were used to lure unsuspecting bettors into rigged games through altered card shufflers, hidden cameras, and even X-ray equipment embedded in the table.

A Galveston, Texas native who went undrafted, Damon Jones accumulated over $20 million during his NBA career between 1999 and 2009. He was a teammate of LeBron James in Cleveland from 2005-06 to 2007-08 and served as an unofficial assistant coach for the Lakers during the 2022-23 season. This followed his tenure as an assistant under Tyronn Lue with the Cavaliers from 2016 to 2018, where he was part of the staff that won the championship against the Warriors (4-3) after a historic 1-3 comeback.