New York (AFP) – Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones is expected to plead guilty to sports gambling charges, a court filing showed Thursday, in a betting scandal that engulfed elite US basketball. Jones, 49, was charged over his alleged role in a scheme that prosecutors say provided inside information on injuries and game absences to bettors between December 2022 and March 2024. In one instance, he allegedly shared that LeBron James would not play due to injury in a Los Angeles Lakers game against the Milwaukee Bucks before that information was made public.
Jones initially denied the charges but, according to the filing, will change his plea at an April 28 hearing in New York City. He is the first of six defendants charged in the case, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, to signal he will plead guilty. Jones is also charged in a second, separate case in which he has pleaded not guilty. That involves a national network of mafia-linked rigged poker games encompassing around 30 people and the use of highly sophisticated cheating equipment including X-ray tables.
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Jones had a modest playing career across 11 different teams, notably the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008, where he played alongside four-time NBA champion James. He later became an assistant coach, working again for the Cavaliers from 2016 to 2018 during James’s second stint in Ohio. Jones served as James’s personal coach during the 2022–2023 season after the star joined the Lakers, without being employed by the team.
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