He Was Friends With LeBron James—and Secretly Texting Intel to NBA Gamblers

Long before he became the target of federal investigators, Damon Jones found himself in a very different kind of crosshairs.

A former NBA player, Jones was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018 and decided to mess with guard J.R. Smith. But that day, Smith wasn’t in a joking mood. Jones attempted to make him spill his lunch, and Smith responded—by hurling a bowl of soup at his coach.

It wouldn’t be the last time that a regrettable decision about spilling on NBA players would land Jones in hot water.

Last week, Jones was among those arrested as part of a sweeping investigation into an illegal gambling ring. He stands accused of participating in mafia-linked poker games that were fixed to defraud victims out of millions and using his NBA connections—and his longtime friendship with LeBron James—to funnel inside information to sports bettors.

The indictments portray Jones not so much as a criminal mastermind as an NBA hanger-on who served as a pawn in the operations—and, crucially, as someone willing to trade off his access to the league’s biggest star.

James wasn’t mentioned by name in the indictment or accused of wrongdoing. He hasn’t talked with Jones in two years, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“D Jones,” as he’s known to his friends across the league and now federal prosecutors, played in the NBA for more than a decade. After going undrafted out of the University of Houston, he began his career with obscure minor-league teams, like the Black Hills Posse and Jacksonville Barracudas. Once he got his chance in the NBA, he stuck around for 11 seasons, earning $20 million in salary while playing for 10 different teams.

Only one kept him around for consecutive seasons: the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by a young phenom named LeBron James.

The highlight of his 2005 to 2008 stint in Cleveland came when he was subbed into a tense 2006 playoff game in the closing minute without having played a single second. James passed the ball to Jones, who nailed the game-winning, series-clinching shot.

“You always want to give the ball to the world’s greatest shooter in that spot,” Jones said of himself.

But it was away from the locker room that Jones, now 49, nurtured his relationship with James. He was there for James’s 21st birthday party, a blowout that featured a performance by Lil Wayne. In the frenzied days before “The Decision,” when James announced his move to the Miami Heat in 2010, the former teammates were photographed in the same car. The world’s best player was driving. The retired journeyman was riding shotgun.

After James returned his talents to Cleveland in 2014, the Cavaliers also brought back Jones, first as a “roving instructor” and player-development coach and later as a full-fledged assistant. He was there for the crowning moment of James’s career when they won the 2016 title. At the team’s championship parade, Jones stood next to Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, whom he called his “best friend,” puffing on a cigar.

Like James, Jones left Cleveland after 2018—the season of the chicken-tortilla soup incident—but stayed in his orbit.

Meanwhile, despite his proximity to basketball royalty, Jones was dealing with financial problems and struggling to pay off debts.

He filed for personal bankruptcy twice, first in 2013 and then again in 2015. His creditors included the Bellagio casino, which said it was owed nearly $50,000. In the first case, the trustee sought a dismissal because Jones wasn’t keeping up with the payments. The court approved a repayment plan for his second case in October 2015, at the beginning of the NBA season that would end with a Cavs title, and a bankruptcy judge ordered the team to deduct money from his paychecks to send to the trustee. In 2017, Jones voluntarily dismissed the case.

A lawyer for Jones declined to comment for this article.

When James headed to the Lakers, Jones eventually followed. Although his role was unofficial, Jones could be spotted in team-issue sweatsuits alongside James during pregame warm-ups, including the night in February 2023 when LeBron broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record.

Two nights later, prosecutors say, Jones was dishing about his friend to the gambling underworld.

Jones came to know the defendants in the federal gambling case as a member of their rigged poker games, which featured hidden cameras and X-ray tables. His role was to be a “face card,” a former pro athlete whose presence was meant to lure unwitting victims.

Before one game in the Hamptons, Jones asked for a favor: a $10,000 advance.

“GOD really blessed me that u have action for me,” he texted one of the defendants, “cause I needed it today bad.”

That day, he received $2,500 and instructions to study two skilled poker players who were described as the LeBron James and Stephen Curry of cheating.

“Y’all know I know what I’m doing!!” Jones replied.

But that knowledge wasn’t his only value to their alleged schemes. His relationships across the NBA also gave him information that could be lucrative to gamblers. The NBA requires teams to release hourly injury reports with the latest information on who will and won’t play that night—and for gamblers, getting their hands on that intel before the betting lines move is an edge.

It’s how Jones allegedly parlayed his access into profit.

Federal prosecutors accuse him of selling information to a member of the poker-rigging conspiracy before at least two Lakers games.

In February 2023, Jones learned that James—referred to in the indictment as “Player 3”—would be sidelined with an ankle injury against the Milwaukee Bucks that night. He picked up his phone.

“Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out!” Jones texted. “Bet enough so Djones can eat to [sic] now!!!”

At the time, James was listed as “questionable” on the injury report. Sure enough, he was soon declared “out.” And sure enough, the Lakers lost.

But the scheme didn’t always run so smoothly. In January 2024, Jones again pinged his contacts after hearing that ailing Lakers star Anthony Davis—identified as “Player 4”—would be limited. For that information, he collected a $2,500 fee.

Only this time, his tip was neither accurate nor profitable. When Davis played his usual minutes and the Lakers won, Marves Fairley—the gambler known as “Vezino Locks,” who had wagered $100,000 based on Jones’ flawed intel—demanded his money back.

These days, Jones has bigger problems than a refund. He was arrested in Las Vegas last week and given a public defender. Before Jones was granted a pretrial release, a lawyer representing the U.S. government made one specific request.

“We ask that he refrain from gambling,” the federal prosecutor said. “He has a very serious gambling problem.”

Write to Robert O’Connell at robert.oconnell@wsj.com and Ben Cohen at ben.cohen@wsj.com

Appeared in the October 29, 2025, print edition as 'He Was Secretly Texting Intel to NBA Gamblers'.