NBA Investigation for Illegal Betting: Request Records from Teams and Individuals
An independent law firm, hired by the NBA, has requested records from individuals and teams as part of the investigation into allegations of illegal gambling detailed in a federal indictment. This investigation has resulted in the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former player and coach Damon Jones.
The NBA confirmed that the independent legal firm is investigating the allegations since they were made public. A league spokesperson stated that several individuals and organizations were asked to preserve documents and records, and that everyone has fully cooperated.
Multiple teams have been contacted by investigators, including the Los Angeles Lakers. Among the Lakers employees contacted and cooperating are assistant coach Mike Mancias and executive administrator Randy Mims. It is reported that Mancias and Mims voluntarily handed over their cell phones to the investigators.
Mancias, Mims, and Jones have a long relationship with LeBron James, who is not mentioned in the indictment and has not been accused of any crime.
Federal prosecutors charged Jones with selling non-public information about Lakers players’ injuries to bettors during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. In one case, it is alleged that he obtained details from a team coach.
In the indictment, prosecutors described Jones as an unofficial assistant coach for the Lakers during the 2022-23 season. In the following season, Jones allegedly claimed to have known from a team coach that a key Lakers player was injured and would likely play limited minutes in a January 15, 2024 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
According to the accusation, Jones transmitted the information to co-defendant Eric Earnest, who in turn gave it to co-defendant Marves Fairley, a known gambler. Fairley placed a bet of approximately $100,000 against the Lakers. The Lakers player ended up playing his normal minutes and Los Angeles won. Fairley, through Earnest, requested Jones to refund the $2,500 he had paid for the information about the injury.
Jones pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud and money laundering last week in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
It is alleged that Rozier notified Deniro Laster, a childhood friend, in advance that he planned to leave a game on March 23, 2023, between the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans in the first quarter. Rozier, who at the time played with the Hornets, was not included in the team’s injury report for the game. Prosecutors allege that Laster sold the information to Fairley and another unidentified co-conspirator for approximately $100,000.
According to the accusation, the bettors, armed with the information, placed bets for more than $263,000 on Rozier’s statistics. Rozier left the game, citing a foot injury, after playing just over nine minutes.
Rozier is scheduled to be processed on December 8 in Brooklyn. A lawyer for Rozier has stated that his client is innocent.
Congressional committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate sent letters to the NBA asking about the league’s policies and its relationships with betting houses, after 34 people were arrested, including Rozier, Jones and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, on October 23, in two indictments related to gambling.
Billups was charged in an indictment focused on alleged rigged poker games. He was not named in the indictment focused on sports betting.
However, an unidentified co-conspirator with a professional background matching Billups’ was charged with sharing non-public information with a bettor about the Trail Blazers’ plan to not play several players in a March 24, 2023 game against the Chicago Bulls.
