Published on 16 April 2026
Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones is expected to become the first person to plead guilty in a gambling scandal that led to the arrest of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and other basketball personalities.
A change of plea hearing for Jones is scheduled for April 28 in Brooklyn federal court, according to a court filing Thursday. It was originally scheduled for May 6, but was moved at the request of the parties.
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Jones, 49, had previously pleaded not guilty to separate indictments accusing him of profiting from rigged poker games and providing non-public information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis to sports bookmakers.
Jones is charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy in both cases.
A message seeking comment was left for his attorney, Kenneth Montgomery. He told a judge at Jones’ arraignment in November that he “may be involved in plea negotiations.”
Jones, a onetime teammate of James, was arrested last October along with others including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and a sports bettor, accused of cashing in on injury information.
Jones was one of three people charged in both the poker and sports betting schemes. He is free on bail.
A native of Galveston, Texas, Jones earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008, and Jones served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022–2023 season.
According to prosecutors, Jones sold or attempted to sell non-public information to bettors that James was injured and would not play in a February 9, 2023 game against the Milwaukee Bucks, sending the message to an unnamed co-conspirator: “Place a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information comes out.”
James was not listed on the Lakers’ injury report at the time of the text message, but according to prosecutors, the all-time scoring leader for the National Basketball Association (NBA) was later forced out of the game with a lower body injury and the Lakers lost the game 115–106.
On January 15, 2024, prosecutors said, sports bettor Marves Fairley paid Jones approximately $2,500 for a tip that then-Lakers forward and center Davis would get limited playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to injury.
Fairley bet $100,000 on the Thunder to win, but the tip was false, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Davis played his normal minutes, scoring 27 points and collecting 15 rebounds in a 112–105 Lakers victory, after which Fairley demanded a refund of his $2,500 fee.
According to prosecutors, Jones was one of two former NBA players involved in a poker scheme that was used to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the tables.
According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons, where he was instructed to cheat by paying attention to other people involved in the scheme. Prosecutors said his trainer compared him to James and NBA All-Star Steph Curry. Prosecutors said that when suspicious, Jones was asked to fold his hands.
According to prosecutors, in response, Jones texted: “Y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”
According to prosecutors, the poker scheme frequently used illegal poker games run by New York crime families, requiring them to share a portion of their earnings with the Gambino, Genovese, and Bonanno crime families.
In return, members of those families helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to repay debts and ensure the continued success of the operation, authorities said in court documents.
A hot hand from beyond the three-point arc, Jones once declared himself “the best shooter in the world” in an interview with insidehoops.com. He played in every regular season game for three consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2006.
After his playing days, he worked as a “shooting consultant” for the Cavaliers and was an assistant coach when the team, led by James, won the NBA championship in 2016.
