Former Lakers assistant Damon Jones to plead guilty in gambling case as NBA Playoffs begin

(AsiaGameHub) –   As the Los Angeles Lakers prepare to kick off their 2026 NBA Playoffs opener this weekend, a former team assistant with close connections to LeBron James is scheduled to plead guilty in a wide-ranging gambling case that has shaken the sport.

Damon Jones, a former unpaid assistant for the Lakers, is expected to be the first defendant to enter a guilty plea in this high-profile case. Jones, who was LeBron James’ former teammate with the Cleveland Cavaliers, faces felony charges linked to the New York-based illegal gambling investigation. Once self-described as the best “long-range shooter in the world”, Jones is set to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge for a change of plea hearing on April 28, according to court filings unsealed this week.

Jones is accused of illegally sharing non-public information about a Lakers player’s injury status with a group of bettors. While James is not named in any charges in the complaint, he matches the description of the player in question.

An 11-year NBA veteran, Jones is also accused of leaking inside information about the health of a player that fits the profile of former Lakers All-Star forward Anthony Davis. Though Davis is not facing charges either, two other NBA figures are: Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.

Jones is not cooperating with federal prosecutors, according to his attorney Kenneth Montgomery.

“There is a standard federal process for defendants entering pleas in federal criminal matters,” Montgomery told iGB Friday. “This case will move forward through that standard process just like the thousands of other federal cases in this district. No, he is not a cooperating witness.”

At the Core of the Case

Like Billups, Jones is one of more than two dozen defendants in U.S. vs Aiello, a fixed poker case that includes multiple members of New York organized crime families. In addition, Jones is one of three defendants also charged in U.S. vs Earnest, a broad illegal sports betting case. In that probe, he is accused of selling injury status information on the two unnamed Lakers players to a criminal ringleader for betting purposes. Jones faces federal charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

Jones, Billups and Rozier were among the defendants indicted last October after a nationwide sweep carried out by federal law enforcement. The FBI, working alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, announced the charges at a Brooklyn press conference. Rozier, a 2015 NBA Draft first-round pick, is accused of intentionally underperforming in a regular-season game to deliver a specific betting result for an acquaintance.

“Let’s not mince words, this is the insider trading scandal for the NBA,” FBI Director Kash Patel said at the press conference.

Since the indictment, the three NBA-connected figures have made multiple appearances at a courthouse located within a mile of the Brooklyn Bridge. Separately, two MLB pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are facing unrelated charges in Brooklyn over allegations of intentionally rigged pitching. Barring any unforeseen changes, the two pitchers’ trial is expected to begin this fall, per sources.

Looking Back to the 2007 NBA Playoffs

In Game 4 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, Jones played 14 minutes in the Cavaliers’ 109-107 double overtime win over the Detroit Pistons. James, meanwhile, scored 48 points against the Pistons in a game that helped launch him to future stardom. Coincidentally, Billups led the Pistons in scoring with 21 points that night.

Minutes before a November status hearing in Brooklyn, Billups sat at a large court table while Jones walked past just a few feet away. Neither former player shook hands or spoke to each other in the tense encounter. Billups faces multiple counts in the illegal poker case. When iGB asked Billups last month if he planned to plead guilty, he declined to comment.

By 2023, Jones reconnected with James while working as an unpaid assistant for the Lakers. That February, James missed a matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, two days after setting the NBA’s all-time career scoring record. According to a criminal complaint, Jones received $2,500 for leaking information that a certain Lakers player would not play in the game — James missed the contest with an ankle injury.

Ahead of Jones’ hearing at the end of this month, the government has an April 20 deadline to submit multiple filings to U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo. The judge has ordered prosecutors to file an elements sheet, a plea penalty document known as a Pimentel letter, and a letter outlining the government’s position on detention. According to a letter submitted to the judge Thursday, the government has filed a three-page proposed plea agreement. As of Friday, the filing remained sealed.

Jones’ hearing is scheduled to take place one day after a motion to dismiss hearing for Rozier at the same courthouse. The Miami Heat formally released Rozier this week.

Tonko: League Promises of Integrity Ring Hollow

In the wake of the massive expansion of sports betting after the repeal of PASPA in 2018, state and federal political leaders have questioned whether the industry’s growth has tainted the integrity of sports.

New York Representative Paul Tonko, co-author of the SAFE Bet Act, has worked to create a federal framework for legal sports wagering. Last fall, Tonko sent letters to at least seven sports league commissioners urging them to support the integrity safeguards included in the bill.

“Claims of prioritizing integrity ring hollow when leagues have sold their credibility to gambling operators, integrated betting content into game broadcasts, normalized wagering for teenagers, glorified it in advertising, and then failed to stop criminal activity from taking root within the sport,” Tonko wrote in the letters.

Next week, Tonko is scheduled to appear at a public health workshop in Boston alongside Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, the other co-author of the act. Earlier this month, Blumenthal sent a letter to multiple league commissioners to voice concerns over the growing entrenchment of gambling and prediction markets in professional sports.