Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson target of extortion plot foiled by FBI

Warriors head coach Mark Jackson was the target of an extortion plot foiled in June by the FBI. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson worked with the FBI to foil an extortion plot this week that was being carried out by a stripper and an alleged co-conspirator who claimed they had nude photos of the coach, according to TheSmokingGun.com:

The duo, whose relationship is unclear, is accused of trying to extort a six-figure payment from Jackson in return for them not disseminating/selling the explicit photos to the "vultures of the media."

According to an FBI affidavit obtained by The Smoking Gun, Jackson sent the photos to the stripper six years when he was working as an announcer for the Nets. One of Jackson's business associates said he spoke with the coach on the morning of June 28 and confirmed that he had been working with the FBI to handle the issue and that both his family and the Warriors front-office were aware of the situation.

The FBI probe began in April, a few weeks after Jackson was approached by Marcus Shaw, the co-conspirator, in a Memphis hotel when Jackson's Warriors were playing the Grizzlies:

The man showed the NBA coach a “folder containing some of the compromising photos” and a CD that he said contained “recordings of voice mail messages” that Jackson “left for Adams during their affair.”

According to the report, Jackson, who has been married for 22 years and has four children, asked the man what he wanted for the pictures and the disc.  The man said he wanted "to be made whole" and said that he needed the money "to fix his teeth and get his car out of an impound lot."

After refusing Shaw’s request to accompany him to the lot (or anywhere else), Jackson eventually gave Shaw $5000 in cash “in exchange for the folder with the photographs and the CD.” Jackson, seen at left, subsequently destroyed the incriminating material.

Jackson released a statement to the public on Thursday, which was obtained by NBCSports.com, confirming the situation and said that paying a conspirator is a bad idea:

In retrospect, I understand that this was a terrible lapse in judgment and a course of action I would not recommend  to anyone.