LeBron James & Lakers Involved In NBA Gambling Scandal?

An NBA gambling scandal reared its head on Thursday morning, and it appears LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have some involvement.

Among the people who were arrested on Thursday morning were Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former player and coach Damon Jones.

According to the FBI, Rozier was arrested for his potential involvement in gambling on the NBA, while Billups was arrested for his involvement in an illegal poker operations tied to the Mafia.

Jones, on the other hand, appears to be involved in both the NBA gambling and poker scandals. He is a former teammate and close friend of James and has spent time around the Lakers in recent years. According to Mike Prada and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, Jones tipped bettors on a game LeBron was ruled out of against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023:

The Feb. 9, 2023, game between the Bucks and Lakers that was referenced in the FBI’s investigation into sports betting was one that LeBron James did not play in. He was ruled out due to ankle soreness.

According to the indictment, Damon Jones, a friend of James’ who was not a formal employee of the Lakers, sold or tried to profit from non-public information so that others could bet on it, including alleged co-conspirators Eric Earnest and Marves Fairley. It was about who would not be playing or if they would pull themselves out of games early. Before the Feb. 9, 2023 Lakers game against the Bucks, Jones texted an unnamed co-conspirator that a player was out and they should bet the Bucks. The player was not on the injury report yet. He also gave information on the 2023-24 Lakers, including Player 4, who the DOJ said was one of the Lakers’ best players that season.

James also did not play in the Lakers’ next two games before returning in the team’s final game before the All-Star break on Feb. 15, 2023.

As was stated in the report, Jones has never been a formal employee of the Lakers. It remains to be seen if James or the Lakers will get in any sort of trouble for this, but being linked to an illegal gambling operation is definitely never ideal.

In the game referenced, the Lakers lost to the Bucks at home, 115-106. It was the night of the trade deadline that season and the Lakers had just struck a deal to acquire D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in a trade involving Russell Westbrook. So in addition to James being ruled out, they were also missing a significant portion of their roster in the loss.

The FBI also mentioned the Lakers as one of the teams that were bet on in this scandal: