A judge has granted former NBA star Glen Davis a seven-week delay in his prison sentence to allow him to complete filming a documentary about his life. Davis, 38, was set to begin serving a three-year, four-month sentence for insurance fraud on September 1, according to the Associated Press.
However, U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni granted the former Boston Celtics star an extension until October 22 to begin his prison sentence, allowing him to finish filming the documentary.
The judge noted that the income Davis could earn from the project might help offset the significant amount of money he owes.
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According to the Associated Press, Davis’ lawyer, Brendan White suggested that the documentary could play a crucial role in helping the former athlete repay the $80,000 he owes in restitution.
In November 2023, Davis was convicted in a scheme that defrauded the NBA’s players’ health and benefits welfare plan of over $5 million, according to The Athletic.
He was sentenced to 40 months in prison on May 9 and ordered to repay $80,000. After serving his sentence, Davis will also face three years of supervised release.
Twenty-two people, including former NBA players and doctors, were charged with a conspiracy to defraud the NBA’s benefits plan, according to ESPN.
Among those convicted were former NBA stars Terrence Williams, William Bynum, and Keyon Dooling.
The Athletic reported that Williams, identified as the ringleader, recruited other players to submit inflated invoices for medical procedures to the NBA, taking a cut of the money from each fraudulent claim.
Williams was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the scheme.
At his May sentencing hearing, Davis and his attorneys informed the court that he is grappling with financial difficulties after the end of his professional basketball career.
“I’ve been struggling because basketball was taken from me,” Davis, who was a member of the 2008 Boston Celtics championship team, told Judge Caproni, according to the AP.
“That’s all I know. I was expert at that,” Davis added. “But when I lost basketball, I lost myself.”
Nicknamed “Big Baby,” the former Louisiana University star played nine seasons in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, and Orlando Magic.
He ended his basketball career in 2019 after one final season with St. John’s Edge in the former National Basketball League of Canada.
