Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) prepares to shoot a foul shot against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena on October 22, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Gina Ferazzi | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
A new bombshell indictment criminally charging former NBA player Damon Jones suggests that while affiliated with the Los Angeles Lakers, Jones leaked information about the injury status of superstar LeBron James to sports bettors before a February 2023 game.
James is not accused of wrongdoing in the federal indictment, which alleges that Jones, 49, and others defrauded betting companies.
Jones and James previously played together on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jones was acting as an unofficial coach for the Lakers at the time of the February 2023 game in Los Angeles that is mentioned in the indictment.
A James spokesman declined to comment to CNBC.
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The indictment refers to an unidentified Player 3.
The document says that Jones “was a teammate and coach of a prominent player,” who was Player 3.
The indictment says that Jones, on the morning of a Feb. 9 game between the Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks “sent a text message to Co-Conspirator 9, writing: ‘Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out! [Player 3] is out tonight. Bet enough so Djones can eat … now!”
Coach Damon Jones looks on during the game during the 2025 G League Elite Camp on May 11, 2025 at Windtrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
Jeff Haynes | National Basketball Association | Getty Images
“At the time Jones provided this non-public information about Player 3 to Co-Conspirator 9, Player 3 was not ruled out on the NBA’s injury report for the” game, the indictment says.
James ended up sitting out that Feb. 9 game with a lower-body injury, to his ankle
The indictment says, “Due to a lower body injury, Player 3 did not play in the February 9 Game.”
The only other active Laker player to sit out that game with an injury was Scotty Pippen Jr., who did not have a lower-body injury. Pippen was in the concussion protocol for the game.
Milwaukee defeated the Lakers in that game by a score of 115 to 106.
The Bucks went into the game as a favorite by an average of 8 points, according to various odds sites.
A person familiar with James’ situation said James did not know his information would be used for betting.
— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Jessica Golden
