A jury in Manhattan has convicted former NBA players Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis and Will Bynum – ruling that they engaged in fraud.
According to the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, Davis and Bynum were not the only ones engaged in this behavior.
However, the US Attorney says, ‘While many of the more than 20 defendants convicted in this case were well-known NBA stars, their [Davis and Bynum’s] conduct was otherwise a typical fraudulent scheme designed to defraud the NBA’s health care plan and net the defendants over $5million in illicit profits.
‘Today’s conviction exemplifies that despite notoriety or success in sports or any other field, no one is exempt from criminal charges if they engage in fraud.’
Davis and Bynum were specifically found guilty of health care fraud and wire fraud as well as conspiracy to commit those two crimes among other charges.
Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis (L) and Will Bynum (R) have been found guilty of multiple counts of fraud
Davis (11) was most notable in his NBA career for winning the NBA Finals with the Celtics
The former players were accused of submitting false reimbursement claims from between 2017-2020 for medical and dental services that were not actually provided.
In total, the claims totaled just under $4m in total – with players receiving $2.5m of that money.
The range of claims received were as low as $65,000 up to $420,000.
In a statement made when the charges were announced in 2021, the league said, ‘The benefit plans provided by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association to our players are critically important to support their health and well-being throughout their playing careers and over the course of their lives, which makes these allegations particularly disheartening.’
It’s unclear when Bynum and Davis will be sentenced.
Davis played nine seasons in the NBA – getting drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in the 2007 NBA Draft. His rights were traded to the Boston Celtics and he won the 2008 NBA title with them.
He would also go on to play for the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Bynum played eight NBA seasons with the Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards.