Former Lakers assistant coach Damon Jones was the first of 34 defendants to plead guilty Tuesday in a gambling scandal that also ensnared Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat star Terry Rozier and organized crime figures.
Jones was the coach of the Lakers in 2022 and 2023, long after he retired from an 11-year NBA playing career with 11 teams. Before the February 9, 2023, game between the Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks in which LeBron James was delayed from scratch due to a foot injury, evidence shows that Jones urged his teammate to “get a big bet on Milwaukee before the word gets out!”
Jones pleaded with his colleagues in a text: “Beat enough so that Jones can eat [sic] now!!!”
Jones and James were considered best friends for years. A person close to James told The Times in October that the Lakers star had no idea Jones was selling injury information to gambling dens.
Jones pleaded not guilty in November to two counts of conspiracy to defraud for his role in the sports betting and poker schemes. However, during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to the charges.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 6 before separate judges in the two cases. The guidelines call for 21 to 27 months in prison for the sports gambling charge and 63 to 78 months for the rigged poker game charge. Prosecutors said they agreed to cut 15 months off the sentence so Jones could plead guilty on April 30.
He pleaded guilty in the first sports betting case. In a prepared statement, he admitted that he conspired with others to defraud sports betting companies by using “insider information I gained through my relationship as a former player.”
Jones, 49, said the purpose of the sports betting conspiracy was to use his inside knowledge of player injuries to make gambling money.
“I would like to sincerely apologize to the court, my family, my peers and the National Basketball Association,” said Jones, who was paid $21 million as a player.
Next comes a guilty plea to participating in rigged poker games. Jones admitted he was paid to use his NBA celebrity to lure deep-pocketed gamblers to poker games in Miami and New York.
Reading from the statement, Jones said, based on conversations with poker partners, “I knew the games were rigged and that the players were being cheated.”
He also ended by apologizing to the court, his family and friends.
“I am very sorry to all those involved for my actions,” he said.
Prosecutors said Monday they will seek additional charges against Rozier in the sports betting scandal because they have evidence that the 10-year NBA veteran solicited bribes during the alleged gambling.
According to the original lawsuit, when Rozier played for the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, he told his friends that he planned to leave the game early with a “supposed injury,” allowing others to place wagers. Rozier made $135 million as a player.
Billups, who played with the Clippers for two seasons and later became a member of Clippers coach Ty Lue’s staff before being named head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021, is charged with hacking an underground poker ring that authorities say is supported by three New York Mafia families. Billups, who will be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2024, made $107 million as a player.
