Ex-NBA coach Damon Jones first to plead guilty in wild gambling sweep

The wild NBA betting scandal and rigged poker ring that blew up late last year has just taken a major turn. 

Damon Jones, a former NBA player and assistant coach, has become the first person to plead guilty to his role in the scheme. 

It’s a massive development for a case that hit headlines around December with over 30 arrests.

Jones admitted to two pretty damning parts of the racket. 

First, he was involved in rigging poker games. Second, he was selling “insider information” to bettors about player availability, which he obtained while working as an assistant coach for the LA Lakers.

According to the charges, Jones was dishing out information on whether superstars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis would be playing or sitting out. It’s the kind of intel that basically guarantees a win for the bettor.

The scheme allegedly went deeper, with reports that NBA players like Terry Rozier altered their performance or took themselves out of games to influence the betting odds. 

These stunts reportedly led to tens of thousands of dollars in payouts.

Alongside the betting side of things, reports also pointed to a linked poker scheme, allegedly used as another channel for money movement and coordination between those involved. 

It’s not unusual for gambling investigations to overlap like that, but it does show how layered this case could be.  

The poker ring is reportedly linked to the New York City mafia, with five major crime families allegedly involved.  

We’re talking about "face cards" - former pro athletes acting as bait - luring victims into games rigged with hidden cameras, special sunglasses, and even X-ray equipment built into the tables.

Chauncey Billups, the Portland Trail Blazers' former head coach, was also among those arrested for his involvement.

All told, the schemes have amounted to tens of millions of dollars in theft. 

Miami Heat president Pat Riley probably said it best, calling the whole thing the “most stupid thing that a player could do.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Jones is set to appear at plea change hearings in Brooklyn federal court, where he’s expected to plead guilty to at least one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

So far, he’s the only one of the accused to fold, but I think the dominoes are going to start to fall.