Who is Damon Jones? Former NBA player, coach indicted in illegal gambling schemes

When news broke Thursday morning that Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier had been arrested in connection with a high-profile illegal gambling case, NBA fans likely recognized their names: Billups as the Hall of Famer and Portland Trail Blazers head coach, and Rozier as a veteran combo guard.

All but the most die-hard NBA fans may have overlooked another former player tied to the federal criminal investigation: Damon Jones.

The arrests were in relation to two federal criminal cases. One involves a sports betting ring that includes former and current NBA players, including some who allegedly faked injuries. The other case involves illegal high-stakes poker games involving coaches and operated by organized crime figures, authorities said.

Three people, including Jones, were arrested in connection to both schemes, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Damon Jones’ basketball career

The Galveston, Texas, native played college basketball at the University of Houston, and currently resides in Houston, according to federal court documents.

Jones appeared for 10 different NBA teams over an 11-year career, spanning from 1998 to 2009. He played in 209 games over three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his longest stint with a single team, according to Basketball Reference.

After his playing career, Jones was an assistant coach in Cleveland from 2014 to 2018, and an unofficial assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 NBA season, according to the indictment.

Allegations against Damon Jones

In the sports betting indictment, prosecutors alleged that Jones used his proximity to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2022-2023 NBA season to give out non-public information for the purpose of placing wagers on games or certain players.

In the indictment, prosecutors allege that Jones had access to nonpublic information about an unidentified “prominent NBA player” who he coached and played with. Before a game on Feb. 9, 2023, Jones sent a text message to an unidentified co-conspirator confiding the “prominent player” was injured and would not appear in that night’s game, so the co-conspirator should place a large bet on the Lakers’ opponent before the injury was made public.

That night, LeBron James did not suit up for the Lakers and they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, game records show. Jones both played with and coached James on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The indictment also outlined an instance in the 2023-2024 NBA season in which Jones allegedly sold nonpublic injury information about a different Lakers player to co-defendants for the purpose of placing a wager.

In the other indictment, Jones is accused of participating in a scheme to stage rigged, illegal poker games in New York City.

Joseph Nocella, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the defendants allegedly used a “variety of very sophisticated cheating technologies,” including self-shuffling machines that had been secretly altered to read the cards in the deck and predict which player at the table had the best poker hand, which was then allegedly sent to an off-site operator. The off-site operator then allegedly sent the information via cell phone to the co-conspirator at the table, who was known as the quarterback. The quarterback then allegedly secretly signaled the information to others and at the table, and together, they used that information to win the games, Nocella said.

In all, Jones is charged with two counts each of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. It is unclear when Jones will make his first court appearance.