Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones, who has been accused of tipping off sports bettors with leaked insider information, suffered with decade-long financial struggles, it has been revealed.
Jones, 49, was arrested on October 23 as part of two wide-sweeping FBI investigations into illegal gambling. The former Cleveland Cavaliers was named in both cases.
The first, dubbed ‘Operation Nothing But Net,’ accuses Jones of feeding confidential information about NBA games, teams and players to sports gamblers in a corruption scheme branded the ‘most brazen’ by U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. of the Eastern District of New York.
The other, ‘Operation Royal Flush,’ involved a probe into rigged poker games allegedly orchestrated by the Mafia, which are claimed to have used former professional athletes Jones and Chauncey Billups as ‘face cards’ to lure victims to the table.
The arrests plunged the basketball world into shock and chaos last month. Yet, it has now emerged that Jones has reportedly had a long history of run-ins with the law and financial woes.
In 2019, a man named Scott Kerr accused Jones of owing him money, filing a civil complaint seeking monetary relief of $100,000 or less, according to court records obtained by NBC News.
Former NBA player and coach Damon Jones has reportedly suffered with financial struggles
Jones was arrested last month as part of the FBI’s mass investigation into illegal betting
The filing claimed that Jones owed Kerr $10,000 in money that he had borrowed. That sum, along with a $4,000 loan fee, was due to be repaid to Kerr on August 28, 2017 but Jones failed to settle his debt.
He is said to have listed his 2016 NBA championship ring, which he won as a member of the Cavaliers coaching staff, as collateral to secure the loan from Kerr. However, he had also failed to provide the ring, according to the filing.
The Daily Mail has contacted Jones’s lawyer for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The NBA journeyman has been wrestling with his finances since at least 2013 when he first filed for bankruptcy, according to NBC News. The case was dismissed.
He filed again two years later and this time reported $500,000 to $1 million in liabilities and claimed to have assets in the range of $100,001 to $500,000.
Records from that case showed that Jones owed around $640,000 to creditors and $47,000 to the Bellagio Hotels and Casino for ‘breach of contract/confession of judgement.’ It is unclear if the case was resolved.
A decade later, a property management company attempted to evict Jones from his Houston apartment for owing an estimated $5,600 in rent in June 2023.
Jones failed to show in court and the company ultimately dismissed the case, but two months later, it issued another eviction notice against the former basketball player. This time, it claimed that he owed more than $11,000 in back rent.
Jones was part of the Cleveland Cavaliers coach staff for the team’s 2016 championship win
Jones reportedly listed his 2016 NBA championship ring as collateral to secure a loan
After Jones once again failed to appear in court, the judge issued a default judgment in favor of the company. As a result, the management company was granted possession of the apartment and Jones was hit with a monetary judgment of $11,240, records show.
When the court tried to mail Jones a copy of the default judgment, the notice was reportedly returned due to an insufficient address.
Kerr and the management company were not the only ones to have been owed money by Jones over the past 12 years. Between October 2023 and November 2024, three other men filed complaints against him, claiming that he had failed to repay them thousands of dollars.
One man, Antonio Hooper, claimed in a November 2024 filing that Jones had agreed in writing to pay him $20,000 in return for a $4,500 loan. He alleged to NBC News that, yet again, Jones failed to repay him.
Hooper also alleged that he and Jones share a mutual friend who was searching for a job in the NBA. He claimed that Jones put the friend in touch with LeBron James for a phone interview. However, the friend was unsuccessful in landing the job and the Los Angeles Lakers star reportedly didn’t appreciate Jones ‘trading on his name.’
It is unclear when this phone interview took place but Jones was reportedly close to James throughout the 2022-23 season, which granted him access to the Lakers team and facilities.
In the federal indictment unsealed by the FBI last month, Jones allegedly discovered that ‘Player 3’ – thought to be James – would be ruled out of a February 2023 game against the Milwaukee Bucks before the information had been made public.
Prosecutors allege that Jones told an unnamed co-conspirator to bet on the Bucks to win because the player would be sidelined. The player had not yet appeared on the injury report.
The former NBA journeyman is believed to be close to superstar LeBron James (left)
Miami Heat Guard Terry Rozier (left) and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups (right) were also arrested
Jones was arrested over the allegations as part of the FBI investigation into the sports betting conspiracy, which also saw Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier arrested on similar accusations in the case.
In the second separate but related indictment, Jones was named alongside Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups with the pair accused of being involved in the Mafia-led rigged poker ring, which saw victims allegedly frauded out of $7million.
They face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Rozier and Billups have both issued denials through their respective attorneys.
Jones has yet to enter a plea but is due in court for his arraignment on November 6.
