The NBA world was the subject of massive scrutiny earlier this week when Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, former NBA champion and current Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones were arrested for their involvement in a massive illegal gambling scheme. The three have been accused of leaking information regarding their own or other players’ injury status to help gamblers win bets, as well as being involved in an illegal poker ring.
The Los Angeles Lakers were indirectly involved in the scandal, as Jones was accused of leaking information about LeBron James and Anthony Davis during the 2022-23 season. As things stand, there is no accusation towards anyone on the Lakers roster or staffed by the organization during that time period.
Because of this, there is going to be a league-wide tightening on the gambling laws enforced by the NBA. Lakers head coach JJ Redick declined to comment beyond explaining the discussions he’s had with his team about the subject.
“I’m finding out as you guys are so I don’t really have a comment on it,” he said after Thursday’s practice.
What Redick did disclose, however, is that the team has had multiple meetings to make sure everyone is clear what the gambling rules are.
“We’ve had two meetings on it already,” Redick said. “It’s obviously on the front of everyone’s awareness given the last two years, but other than that, there’s no other comment.”
Since there is no direct Lakers involvement in this scandal as things currently stand, it’s more important than ever that the franchise have these discussions before anything illegal can take place. There will certainly be a microscope on the Lakers given that their name was said in the documents surrounding the ongoing case.
This scandal is going to continue being discussed as investigations move forward, but Redick and the Lakers will need to stay focused on the task at hand in the meantime.
Lakers’ LeBron James unaware Damon Jones was leaking information
According to recent reports, LeBron James had no idea that Damon Jones was sharing information about his injury status when he was around the team for a couple of years.
While Jones was around the team periodically during this time period, he was never an official member of the Lakers staff. As it currently stands, neither the Lakers nor James are under investigation by the FBI or NBA at this time.
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