HOUSTON – Former NBA participant and coach Damon Jones, who grew up within the Houston space, is among the many dozens of individuals charged in reference to a federal investigation.
Jones, Portland Path Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Warmth guard Terry Rozier are amongst greater than 30 folks charged in reference to schemes involving unlawful sports activities betting and rigged poker video games backed by the Mafia, authorities stated on Thursday.
Jones is accused in each indictments introduced Thursday — of collaborating in rigged poker video games in addition to an unlawful sports activities betting scheme utilizing personal insider NBA info.
Authorities say Jones was coached — in actual time — about how you can play his palms in the course of the poker video games, and that at one level, he snapped again, saying: “Y’all know I do know what I’m doing!! Let me hibachi like Gilbert Arenas.”
Dig deeper:
Who’s Damon Jones?
Jones, 49, was an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022-23 when he allegedly was concerned with the betting scheme, in keeping with the indictment. He’s been teaching since not less than 2014 after ending an 11-year NBA enjoying profession.
He’s from Galveston and performed for Houston in school earlier than suiting up with NBA groups in New Jersey, Boston, Golden State, Dallas, Vancouver, Detroit, Sacramento, Milwaukee, Miami and Cleveland.
Jones averaged 11.6 factors within the 2004-05 season with Miami, his solely season scoring in double figures.
Jones joined Cleveland’s teaching employees in 2014 as a taking pictures marketing consultant. He was on Tyronn Lue’s Cleveland employees for the postseason in 2016 and was named a full-time assistant for the Cavaliers later that 12 months. He additionally labored as a TV analyst for ESPN in 2018.
The Supply: The data on this article comes from the Related Press.
