Former Boston Celtics forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis was supposed to head to prison in August 2024 for defrauding the NBA Players’ Health and Benefit Welfare Plan by taking payments for medical treatments he never received. Davis, a member of the 2008 Celtics championship team, was sentenced in May to 40 months in a federal prison. He was one of several NBA players and doctors accused of scamming the NBA’s players health and benefit welfare plan.
On Wednesday, August 28, Judge Valerie E. Caproni said Davis can wait until Oct. 22 to start serving his three-year, four-month sentence so he could complete a documentary about his life, according to ESPN. Davis’ lawyer said the money he’d receive from the documentary “could go a long way” toward satisfying $80,000 in restitution.
In May 2024, Davis, 38, was sentenced to 40 months in prison. In July, he told TMZ that he was waiting on an appeal, but he also said he wasn’t concerned about serving his sentence. He said he was looking forward to it so he could get himself back into shape.
“I’m not nervous. I feel like I’m going to have good quality time in there,” Davis, 38, said. “Learn things, meet new people. It’s going to be all right.
“I’m doing good. Just taking one day at a time. I’m going through the whole process. There’s an appeal. There’s a lot going on. I’m enjoying my time. Free me.
“I think one time in my life I just want to be fine as hell. Shoutout to the ladies out there. Write me. I’ll be in there getting fine as hell. When I get out, call me Big Baby Jailbait.”
On Tuesday, August 27, Davis’ lawyer Brendan White requested the delay, saying a Hollywood production company needed more time to finish the documentary. Those delays, White said, were caused by difficulties arranging interviews with his former teammates and colleagues who need to speak with Davis on film.
The Celtics drafted Davis, a star at LSU, in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft. In his first year with Boston, he won a championship.
As a rookie, Davis appeared in 69 games, starting one. He averaged 13.6 minutes in his first season and put up 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds.
Davis came to a team that had made a significant offseason splash by trading for veteran stars Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in separate deals. Those moved helped propel the Celtics to a 66-win season and their first championship since 1986. The previous year, the Celtics finished with a 24-58 record.
Davis said he expects to talk even more Celtics when he gets to prison.
“I don’t think nobody going to mess with me in jail,” he said to TMZ. “I think they going to just want to know what’s up, you know. What about [Kevin Garnett], [Rajon] Rondo. I think that’s what they’re going to be asking me.”
Davis played the first four seasons of his eight-year NBA career with the Celtics. He also played three seasons with the Orlando Magic and then played his final two years with the Los Angeles Clippers.
