Former NBA star Glen “Big Baby” Davis has broken his silence over securing an early prison release after serving 17 months behind bars for fraud.
“They tried to hold me down,” Davis, 40, said in a video posted via X shortly after his release on Thursday, March 12. “You know what I’m saying? But I’m back, man. I’m back, baby.”
Davis was originally sentenced to 40 months behind bars in May 2024 for allegedly filing false medical claims with the NBA Players’ Health and Benefit Welfare Plan. The basketball player has always maintained his innocence.
Former U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced in November 2023 that more than 20 people — including Davis — were convicted of a scheme that allegedly generated more than $5 million in illegal profits with fraudulent chiropractic and dental receipts.
“Moments ago, a Manhattan jury convicted former NBA players Ronald Glen Davis and William Bynum of a criminal scheme to defraud the NBA Players’ Health and Benefit Welfare Plan,” Williams, 45, said at the time.
The former U.S. Attorney went on, “While many of the more than 20 defendants convicted in this case were well-known NBA stars, their conduct was otherwise a typical fraudulent scheme designed to defraud the NBA’s health care plan and net the defendants over $5 million 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 is now required to spend four months living in the Long Beach Residential Reentry Management Office, a halfway house, to help him successfully transition from imprisonment to living among the general public.
“He used his time [in prison] productively while serving his sentence and took many programs during that time,” Davis’ attorney, Brendan White, said to The Athletic on Friday. “He’s ready to become a productive member of society again.”
Davis will take part in financial management classes and undergo drug treatment, as required by his sentence. He is scheduled to be released from the Long Beach Residential Reentry Management Office on July 9.
The former NBA player was originally set to begin his 40-month prison sentence on September 1, 2024, but a judge allowed him to delay serving his time until October 22, 2024.
Davis’ attorneys requested the delay so the athlete could finish filming a documentary about his life. His attorneys argued that money generated from the film could help Davis pay back the $80,000 he owed in restitution.
His lawyer previously described Davis’ dire financial situation during a sentencing hearing in May 2024, revealing that he’d asked her for $800 so he could pay his phone bill.
“I’ve been struggling because basketball was taken from me,” Davis told the judge at sentencing. “That’s all I know. I was [an] expert at that. But when I lost basketball, I lost myself.”
Davis played college basketball for the Louisiana State University Tigers from 2004 to 2007 before turning pro. He played for the Boston Celtics for four years, during which time he was part of an NBA Championship team in 2008.
He later spent time with the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers before being sidelined with left ankle surgery in September 2015, per ESPN. Davis attempted a comeback with the St. John’s Edge of the National Basketball League of Canada before retiring in 2019.
