NBA giant LeBron James was dragged into the vast gambling scandal uncovered by the feds.
(by Ben Kochman, Joe Marino, NY Post) – Details of LeBron James’ injury status were sold by his pal and former Los Angeles Lakers coach Damon Jones as part of a massive prop betting scheme, according to court docs and law enforcement sources.
Jones, an ex Cleveland Cavs player and “unofficial assistant coach” for the Lakers during the 2022-2023 season, sent a message to one of the betting ring members on Feb. 9, 2023 urging him to place a large bet on the Lakers’ opponent the Milwaukee Bucks, because James would be out with an injury that night, the sources told The Post.
“Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out!,” Jones texted, according to the indictment.
The player, whom sources identified as James, did not play after reporting a lower body injury, and the Lakers lost.
Jones is a longtime friend of James who played with him on the Cavs earlier in James’ career.
Jones also separately received $2,500 for hawking a supposed injury tip — which turned out to be bogus — about another Lakers star player before a Jan. 15, 2024 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Court papers say that Jones claimed to have learned from the Lakers trainer that “one of the Lakers’ best players during the 2023-2024 season” was injured and only going to play a limited amount of minutes that night. Jones told co-defendant Eric “Spook” Earnest, who shared the tip with Marves Fairley, who touted himself online as a successful sports better who used the moniker “Vezino Locks,” court papers say.
Fairley then placed a $100,000 bet against the Lakers. However, the star player played in the game after all and the Lakers won, 112-105.
The mystery player was not named, but the Lakers were led in scoring that night by multi-time All Star Anthony Davis, who put up 27 points that night in the win.
A fed-up Fairley afterward requested that Jones pay the $2,500 back, but Jones insisted that he had still received “credible non-public information” regarding the unnamed player that day. It’s unclear if Jones returned the money.
Published at NY Post on Oct 23, 1:24 p.m. ET. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
