Born in Paramaribo, De Jong was named after Los Angeles Lakers basketball player James Worthy.

[7] Later, he returned to the Netherlands and played with Orca's Urk in the Promotiedivisie, the national second tier league.

De Jong signed with the Rotterdam Challengers of the Dutch Basketball League for the 2009–10 season, starting his professional career.

In the 2015–16 season, De Jong won his first DBL Most Valuable Player Award of his career,[12] after averaging 17.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists per game.

In June 2016, De Jong signed with SOMB Boulogne-sur-Mer of the French second national division Pro B.

[13] Over the 2016–17 Pro B season, De Jong averaged 9.7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game, as SOMB finished in 17th place and was relegated to the third division Nationale Masculine 1 (NM1).

[14] On 28 June 2017, De Jong returned to his former club ZZ Leiden by signing a one-year contract.

[18] De Jong also won his third championship after defeating Heroes Den Bosch in the finals, and he was named DBL Playoffs MVP in the process (he was the first Leiden player to win the award).

[21] De Jong finished his career as ZZ Leiden's all-time leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

[25] De Jong played for the Netherlands national basketball team after he made his debut on 28 July 2012 under Jan Willem Jansen.

[32] At the 2024 Paris Olympics, De Jong played a crucial role in the Netherlands' victory in the men's 3x3 basketball final, securing the gold medal.

De Jong also scored vital points during regulation, tying the game with a layup with less than three seconds remaining.

[33][34] On November 24, De Jong won the 2024 FIBA 3x3 World Tour title in Hong Kong with Amsterdam.