LeBron James inner circle is being investigated and the NBA illegal gambling scandal escalates

According to reports, after a series of illegal gambling cases were exposed in the league, the NBA is launching a large-scale evidence collection, requiring employees of multiple teams to submit documents, mobile phones and other information. It is reported that internal Lakers members who are close to LeBron James appear on this list.

This evidence collection is directly related to the illegal gambling investigation. After the NBA previously accepted congressional inquiries regarding the arrests of Portland Trail Blazers coach Billups, Miami Heat guard Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Damon Jones, it immediately launched an external investigation led by the law firm Weicker & Partners.

"After the indictment was made public, the NBA has commissioned an independent law firm to investigate the relevant accusations. " A league spokesman told "The Athletic", "According to investigative practices, we require multiple parties and institutions to preserve records and information. Currently, all relevant parties are actively cooperating. "

The Lakers became the focus of the investigation due to the case of former assistant coach Damon Jones. Prosecutors accused him of not only participating in cheating poker games but also using inside information to gamble. It was disclosed that before the Lakers' game against the Bucks in 2023, Jones told bettors that James would miss the game due to injury - although the official injury list was not listed at the time.

Jones and James have a deep connection: the two were teammates with the Cavaliers for three years. Jones served as an assistant coach when James returned to the Cavaliers. In the 2022-23 season, he joined James as an informal assistant coach with the Lakers. Jones has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

It is reported that the league has asked at least ten Lakers employees to provide information, including two old friends in James' inner circle-assistant trainer Mancias and administrative director Mims, both of whom have cooperated with the investigation. Mancias has been James' personal trainer for 20 years, and Mims has known James since he was five years old. It should be noted that neither James nor his two close friends have been prosecuted or named in judicial proceedings.

But there is a key description in the indictment: Jones claimed that the trainer shared by two Lakers players (of which "player 3" is James) informed him of "player 4"'s injury. This detail is probably the key point that the alliance urgently needs to clarify.

(Text/Kong Yang)