The month of February 2023 was a monumental one for the Los Angeles Lakers. Especially for the team’s standout player, LeBron James, the power forward fans affectionately call “King James.”
On a historic night, Feb. 7, in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, James shattered a record once thought to be unbreakable: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record. The moment arrived with his signature step-back jumper in the third quarter, giving James his 38,388th point and securing his place as the league’s all-time leading scorer. Crypto.com Arena erupted in a thunderous standing ovation. The crowd was packed with James’ wife and kids, celebrities, athletes and musicians, all bearing witness to history. Denzel Washington, Woody Harrelson, Andy Garcia, Magic Johnson, Jay-Z, Bad Bunny, Floyd Mayweather and Usher were among the high-profile spectators spotted in the crowd, sitting near the man whose long-held record was about to be shattered — Abdul-Jabbar himself.
In the minutes after the history-making basket, the game was briefly paused for a powerful and symbolic ceremony. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Abdul-Jabbar joined James at center court, where the elder statesman of the NBA held the ball aloft before passing it to James, a gesture that represented the official changing of the guard. An emotional James thanked Abdul-Jabbar and the fans, while Abdul-Jabbar praised the new scoring king. Although the Lakers lost the game that night, the outcome was overshadowed by the magical moment.
In the crowd that night was a longtime friend of James, a former teammate back when the King played for the Cleveland Cavaliers: Damon Jones. Jones had become a familiar face to anyone associated with the Lakers. He rode the team bus, wore Lakers gear and was usually on court for pregame practice, firing off passes to James on the court. But Jones wasn’t on the team’s payroll and didn’t have any sort of official title. Federal prosecutors now say he was acting as “an unofficial assistant coach” for the Lakers during the 2022-23 NBA season. Jones was basically just a guy with a lot of time on his hands, whom James enjoyed having around. And as far as anyone knows today, the superstar NBA player had no idea what Jones was up to — using his access to inside information as part of a sprawling illegal betting scheme, one of many that was laid out by federal prosecutors in recent months.
When James set that scoring record, he was on the verge of inking a contract that would pay him more than $46 million for the 2023-24 season. On top of that, he had signed with a slew of companies for another $80 million in endorsement deals. He was worth more than $120 million that year — tops in the NBA.
His pal Jones, on the other hand, was broke. Dead broke in fact, according to a review of records from federal bankruptcy court, where he had filed twice, once in 2013 and once in 2015. Making matters worse for Jones, the court dismissed both attempts to wipe away his debts. Despite having played professional ball as an NBA journeyman for a decade — earning an estimated $20 million in his career from 1999 to 2009, and later serving as an assistant coach — Jones said he had nothing left. In 2023, Jones and his wife were months away from getting booted out of their luxury apartment in Houston for not paying their rent. He claimed his assets were nonexistent, and listed the couple’s Yorkie dog as a valuable worth $1. They owed money to everyone: the IRS, American Express and banks. His unusual access to the Lakers gleaned him some valuable information about their players, including his friend James, who was on his way to becoming the richest player in the league.
It was information federal prosecutors now say Jones would use to try to dig himself out of debt.
In the years since a landmark Supreme Court ruling in May 2018 allowed states to legalize sports betting, the NBA, as a league, saw an opportunity. Months later, in July of that year, the league announced an official gambling partner: MGM Resorts International, which gives the casino conglomerate access to official NBA data on its betting platform – purportedly to detect fraud. More deals were struck with betting companies like DraftKings.
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What does the NBA get out of these partnerships? A piece of the action.
Of course, there are some rules. For one, these betting outfits generally prohibit users from wagering based on access to prerelease, confidential information or other nonpublic information. The terms of use and house rules also prohibit individuals from using others to place wagers on their behalf, other- wise known as straw betting. But a slew of scandals show that rules, at least to those who see an opportunity — or might need access to quick cash — were made to be broken.
As part of the partnership with betting platforms, NBA teams are required to report to the NBA commissioner information concerning player injuries, illnesses and rest for all NBA games. On each game day, the NBA disseminates an injury report for each NBA team playing that day. The report identifies players as falling within one of the following categories: “available,” “probable,” “questionable,” “doubtful” and “out.” The injury reports are updated multiple times throughout each game day, federal prosecutors explain in the indictment naming Jones.
What is not supposed to happen, however, is a big-name player like LeBron James having a hanger-on in the locker room who just happens to hear that the Lakers star has a sore ankle. Which is what prosecutors say happened with Jones, describing in a federal indictment unsealed in January that he used the “virtue of his relationship” with “Player 3,” who multiple sources confirm is James, as insider information on the Lakers, which he then “sold or attempted to sell for profit.”
One such event took place on Feb. 9, 2023 — just two days after the fanfare inside the Lakers’ house the night “The Chosen One,” King James, broke the scoring record. That night, Jones, federal prosecutors allege, texted a friend that James was going to sit out the game against the Milwaukee Bucks with a sore ankle. It was valuable information to bettors who could place wagers against the Lakers, who were less likely to cover the point spread without James playing.
In a text message cited by prosecutors, Jones wrote to a bettor: “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out!” He stressed that it should be a “big bet” so that “Djones could eat too.”
The Lakers, without their superstar, went on to lose the game. And “Djones” would eat that night with a cut of a bettor’s proceeds.
Months later, Jones fed information again, according to the indictment. This time he texted a guy from St. Louis whom prosecutors name as Erik “Spook” Earnest, someone the FBI calls a middle- man between accused NBA cheaters and the betting outfits. Earnest, according to an indictment, then reached out to another man prosecutors describe as a “sports betting consultant,” named Marves Fairley, texting: “Hit me asap got one for u dude say he got some info.” That night, however, would prove to be a problem for gamblers. Despite Jones’ claims about Anthony Davis, the player wasn’t, in fact, injured. He played in the Jan. 15, 2024, game and the Lakers won.
Fairley, who had bet a hundred grand on the game, was pissed and demanded that Jones repay him the $2,500 that he had given him for the tip, according to federal prosecutors. The money was paid through an intermediary, via a peer-to-peer mobile payment platform, accompanied by the message: “fee,” prosecutors say.
All of this became public after a bombshell announcement by federal prosecutors in October. Jones is now charged with wire fraud and money laundering for what investigators call his “significant wagers” and those of others based on the information he gleaned hanging out with the Lakers as an unofficial coach. His name is listed on two separate indictments among a list that shockingly includes high-profile NBA staff and talent: Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. Others listed in the cases include recognizable wise guys from New York City’s organized crime landscape.
“The defendants turned professional basketball into a criminal betting operation, using private locker room and medical information to enrich themselves and cheat legitimate sports-books,” stated United States Attorney for New York City’s Eastern District Joseph Nocella. “This was a sophisticated conspiracy involving athletes, coaches and intermediaries who exploited confidential information for profit. Insider betting schemes erode the integrity of American sports, and this Office will continue in its strong tradition of holding accountable anyone who seeks to corrupt sports through illegal means.”
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups looks on during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Golden State Warriors Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Portland, Ore. Credit: AP Photo/Amanda Loman
There is no question that the NBA is alarmed. The fact that current and former players stand accused of working alongside mob bosses on both coasts, charged with throwing games for profit and ripping off “whales” (aka high rollers) at rigged poker games, has raised questions about the legitimacy of league games played across the country.
Is the game rigged? And is basketball the only game on the line for sports fans?
The NBA is not the only professional sport that has been hit with allegations of being rife with cheaters. In early November, Major League Baseball saw accusations that two of its current players, Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz (aka Emmanuel Clase) and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera (aka Luis Ortiz), both pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians, were rigging pitches for profit. They were both arrested and are now charged with wire fraud. Within weeks of announcing the NBA-related arrests, once again, U.S. Attorney Nocella was talking about dishonesty in professional sports. “Professional athletes, like Luis Leandro Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz hold a position of trust — not only with their teammates and their professional leagues, but with fans who believe in fair play,” he said. “As alleged, the defendants sold that trust to gamblers by fixing pitches.”
The bigger question is not only who, but why? The answer might be in a player’s own gambling debts, which could prompt them to make alleged side deals with mobsters to throw games to make themselves whole with bookies. These allegations were brought to light in 2024, when Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter was accused of betting on NBA games, including against his own team, and faking injuries to rig bets placed on him. One game was cited by federal prosecutors, who were alerted because of the unusual betting activity around Porter involving prop bets, which are centered on an individual player’s performance in a game.
In early 2024, Porter had “amassed large gambling debts” with enforcers working for the New York City Mafia. Gangsters offered him a way out, according to prosecutors. Porter was “encouraged to clear those debts by withdrawing from certain games prematurely.” In other words, he was taking a dive, federal prosecutors say. Investigators cited a Raptors game on Jan. 22, 2024, where Porter “sustained a purported eye injury during a game.” He was evaluated and diagnosed with a corneal abrasion but was not placed on the NBA injury list — which is one of the tools used by the NBA’s betting partners. Four days later, he told his bookie that he would be “removing himself early from the game,” and then played only four minutes during which he scored zero points before crybabying to his coaches about an injured eye.
This went on for another two months, until Porter got a visit from the feds in April and panicked. He texted his Brooklyn bookie that he “might just get hit w a rico,” referring to a racketeering charge, and then asked if everyone in their group chat had “delete[d] all the stuff” from their personal cell phones. That same month, the NBA announced Porter had committed a “cardinal sin” of betting against his own team and ousted him from playing basketball professionally for life.
Porter pleaded guilty three months later, telling a federal judge that he had sought inpatient treatment for gambling addiction since his arrest. The disgraced ex-pro baller told the judge that he committed his crimes in “order to get out from under large gambling [debts] accumulated over time.” He said he knew what he did “was wrong and unlawful,” and added that he was “deeply sorry.” Porter remains free on $250,000 bail and is slated to be sentenced this month.
His high-profile bust, however, would soon be eclipsed by an even bigger scandal when federal prosecutors announced the arrests of Jones, Billups, Rozier and others connected to similar behavior this fall.
NBA Commissioner Silver called the players’ alleged conduct “deeply disturbing” and promised fans he is dedicated to bringing integrity back to the sport.
That statement wasn’t enough for many federal lawmakers from either side of the aisle. Right now, separate, bipartisan, congressional investigations overseen by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Commerce Committee are underway. In a letter to Silver, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz demanded that the league explain how the NBA plans to reinstate the integrity of the game and keep it free from “the influence of organized crime or gambling-related activity,” which legislators say is crucial lest American fans just begin to “assume that all sports are corrupt.”
The letter to the league stated in part: “Americans love basketball because it is fast-paced and unpredictable. A star player can catch fire, a single foul can shift the energy on the court, and a last-minute buzzer beater can decide it all. That volatility is the sport’s magic, and precisely why allegations that current and former National Basketball Association (NBA) players and coaches compromised the game’s integrity are so troubling.” The letter specifically mentions the allegations against Damon Jones and that he was tipping off injury reports on a prominent player that they wrote is “widely understood to be LeBron James.”
In November, Jones had little to say during back-to-back arraignments in Brooklyn federal court. Instead, he let his taxpayer-funded federal public defender do all the talking as he pleaded not guilty to the charges that could send him to prison for decades. He’s also apparently still broke, as his mother and stepfather put up their Texas home as collateral for his $200,000 bail, which will allow him to remain free as he awaits trial.
His friend LeBron James hasn’t spoken out about the allegations, but people close to the Lakers star have quietly told sports reporters the player had no idea that he was being used as a pawn by his longtime friend.