Deep in the weeds of the 23-page federal indictment alleging game fixing in the NBA, prosecutors cite a text from former NBA journeyman Damon Jones to his co-conspirators.
“Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out! (Player 3) is out tonight. Bet enough so Djones can eat to (sic) now!”
Player 3, it turns out, was LeBron James, whose absence in the Los Angeles Lakers game could understandably affect the outcome. James did not, in fact, play that night which Jones knew because – though he wasn’t an official part of the Lakers staff – he worked with the NBA star during pre-game workouts.
Access equals information, which is, essentially, how the sausage is made in point-shaving.
Much like insider trading on the stock market, inside information on teams – either from peripheral personnel such as Jones, or in the form of a direct link, a la Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier – can be worth a lot of money.
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