You may have seen the news of former Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers forward Glen Davis being sentenced to jail for his role in the NBA healthcare fraud scheme that started in 2017. Allegedly, 18 different NBA players fabricated health and dental expenses to get reimbursed for the procedures that never happened. While this sounds like the plot of a great movie, it becomes more sad when you realize how bad the players were at covering their bases.
It was reported that travel records revealed that the players were not even close to the healthcare areas that they indicated. There was even a report of an unnamed player playing in Taiwan at the time claiming that they were receiving health care in California.
Anyways, with the big names that were involved in this scheme, I thought that it would be a fun exercise to rank their careers. Now, there are no players on the LeBron James or Kobe Bryant tier of popularity and skill, but if you have not heard of this scheme, there are some fun names that will send you back to the late 90s and 2000s. Here is a ranking of the careers of the players involved in the NBA healthcare fraud scheme.
NBA Healthcare Fraud Scheme Players Ranked
18. Milt Palacio
Milton Palacio went undrafted in 1999, before being picked up by the Vancouver Grizzlies. Throughout his career, Palacio played for Grizzlies, Celtics, Suns, Cavaliers, Raptors and Jazz. While only averaging 4.8 points per game, he did have one of the biggest plays of the 2000-01 season. With a really bad Celtics team against a really good Nets team, Palacio stole the ball from Nets guard Lucious Harris with two seconds left and hit an off-balanced, 30-foot game-winner to give the Celtics a major upset. This shot gave Palacio the nickname “Miracle Milt.”
17. Greg Smith
After going undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft, Smith found himself playing in Mexico and the D-League (at the time) before being picked up by the Houston Rockets. From there, Smith bounced around with the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves before moving to play overseas. With those teams, Smith was never a major contributor, as he finished with career averages of 4 PPG and 3.3 rebounds per game. His best season came as a part of the Houston Rockets in 2012-13, when he averaged 6 PPG. He even saw a little time in the Rockets’ first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder
16. Antoine Wright
The first player to be drafted on this list of NBA healthcare fraud criminals is Antoine Wright. Yes, Wright enjoyed a pretty solid amateur career, being named Second-Team All-Big 12 in 2003. That same year, Wright was named Big 12 Rookie of the Year. Due to his college career, the New Jersey Nets made Wright the 15th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. Averaging 5.4 PPG and 2.3 RPG, Wright was able to put together a 7.3-3.0-1.6 season splitting time between the Nets and Mavericks in his third season in the NBA. Wright’s pinnacle came when he scored 24 points in a game against the Indiana Pacers in 2008.
15. Jamario Moon
It took quite a while for Jamario Moon to find his footing in the NBA, as after going undrafted in 2001 he floated around the D-League as well as overseas. He even played a stint for the Harlem Globetrotters, before signing with the Toronto Raptors in 2007. Moon’s pinnacle of his NBA career came early in his tenure with Toronto, as he was named Rookie of the Month for January 2008. He would go on to play for four more teams before his NBA career petered off. He finished his NBA career with totals of 6.3/4.3/1, with his only honor being named to the All-NBA Rookie Second Team.
14. Eddie Robinson
Robinson spent his college career at three different universities before going undrafted in the 1999 NBA Draft. In total, Eddie Robinson spent six years in the NBA with the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls. Robinson showed a little promise with the Hornets, averaging seven PPG and 7.4 PPG in consecutive seasons. He then took the next step after being moved to the Chicago Bulls. In his first season with the Bulls, Robinson put together a nine-PPG season. In total, Robinson was a seven-point-per-game scorer on a respectable 51.2 shooting percentage.
13. Sebastian Telfair
Sebastian Telfair is probably the first recognizable name to the average NBA fan on this list. Coming out of high school, Telfair was the overall number two recruit in the country. After committing to Rick Pitino’s Louisville team, Telfair changed his mind and decided to go pro out of high school. Telfair was eventually drafted 13th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. With all of the pre-draft hype, Telfair was unable to live up to it and had quite a disappointing NBA career. Without many highlights throughout his career, Telfair became a throw-in for many trades. After appearing on the Sports Illustrated cover as a high schooler, he finished his NBA career with 7.4 PPG and 3.4 APG on 39% shooting.
12. Melvin Ely
The Los Angeles Clippers made Melvin Ely the 12th pick of the 2002 NBA Draft, after four years at Fresno State. While he quickly moved to the Bobcats, Ely enjoyed his time there, turning down multi-million dollar offers to stay in Charlotte. He was eventually traded to the San Antonio Spurs, where he appeared in just six games. Even though he only played six games, Ely was given a championship ring after the 2007 season. Ely then bounced around between the New Orleans Hornets and Denver Nuggets, before finding himself in the D-League and in Japan. Even though he won a ring, Ely finished his career with totals of 5.3 PPG and 3.2 RPG.
11. Keyon Dooling
At 6-3, Keyon Dooling was the 10th pick of the 2000 draft to the Orlando Magic. He was traded on draft day to the Los Angeles Clippers in a trade that involved Corey Maggette going to LA. After four years in Los Angeles, Dooling signed with the Miami Heat. While Dooling was a solid backcourt reserve, the most notable occurrence in his career came when he got into a fight with Ray Allen. Dooling ended up being suspended for five games while Allen got three. Dooling then bounced around the NBA, before finding a home in the front office of the NBA. He ended up as the Vice President of the Players Association, which makes his involvement in this NBA healthcare fraud scheme that much more interesting.
10. Chris Douglas-Roberts
Partnered with Derrick Rose at Memphis, Chris Douglas-Roberts was a dog in college. He was a consensus First-Team All-American and was drafted in the second round of the 2008 draft by the New Jersey Nets. Douglas-Roberts was eventually traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for a second-round pick. He then bounced around between overseas and the D-League before exiting the NBA. While Douglas-Roberts finished his NBA career with totals of 7.1 PPG and 2.1 RPG, his second year in New Jersey of 9.8/3.1/1.4 is the best season we have seen so far on this list.
9. Will Bynum
After a 12.5 PPG senior season at Georgia Tech, Bynum entered the 2005 NBA Draft but went undrafted. He spent some time in the D-League before finding footing with the Golden State Warriors. After moving overseas, Bynum eventually ended up with the Detroit Pistons. This is where he started to build a solid NBA career. He spent seven seasons in Detroit as a reserve point guard. During a game in 2010, Bynum totaled 20 assists, which was the first time a Pistons player reached 20 or more assists since Isiah Thomas. Before that though, in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats, Bynum scored 26 points in a quarter, which is a franchise record. Bynum finished his NBA career with numbers of 8.1 PPG and 3.3 APG on 44% shooting.
8. Alan Anderson
Finishing his college career at Michigan State, Alan Anderson went undrafted in the 2005 NBA Draft. He signed with the Charlotte Bobcats, where he played two seasons. After Charlotte, Anderson moved overseas. His career took a turn though when he joined the Toronto Raptors in 2012. Anderson was inserted in the starting lineup, before losing the favor of fans for being a ball hog. Anderson then became somewhat of a help in the playoffs for the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards before ending his NBA career.
7. Shannon Brown
Many people will remember Shannon Brown for his gravity-defying dunks while playing with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Before the Lakers, Brown spent time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Bobcats. His time with those three teams was unmemorable. Finding himself with the Lakers, Brown won two NBA Championships, playing in 82 games twice. While in Los Angeles, Brown became a key piece for the championship teams, spelling Bryant when needed. Leveraging his notoriety, Brown signed with the Phoenix Suns in 2011. In two seasons with Phoenix, Brown averaged 11 and 10.5 PPG. He eventually floated between New York, Miami and San Antonio, before ending his NBA tenure.
6. Ruben Patterson
Ruben Patterson had quite the whirlwind of an NBA career. He was the second-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 1998 draft. While in LA, due to his battles in practice with Kobe Bryant, Patterson earned the nickname, “The Kobe Stopper.” After leaving the Lakers, Patterson signed with the Seattle SuperSonics as a 3-and-D player. After Seattle, Patterson moved to the Portland Trail Blazers. Even though he spent seven seasons in Portland, Patterson was most known as a Blazer for getting punched in the face by Zach Randolph and demanding that he play 25 minutes a game. After Portland, Patterson moved between Milwaukee, Denver, and Los Angeles (Clippers). He finished his NBA career with a line of 10.7 PPG and 4.2 RPG.
5. Tony Wroten
Due to playing on really bad Philadelphia 76ers’ teams in the meat of his career, Tony Wroten never became a household name. Even so, he was somewhat of a solid player in his three years for the Sixers, scoring 13, 16.9 and 8.4 PPG. More than those solid scoring seasons, Wroten became the only player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his first start in the league. Due to knee injuries, Wroten didn’t play more than four years in the NBA, but even though it was a short NBA career, Wroten certainly made the most of it.
4. C.J Miles
CJ Miles is one of the strangest names to go from prep to pros in NBA history. Coming out of high school, Miles stated that he would play for the Texas Longhorns if he was not selected in the first round of the draft. He was in fact not drafted in the first round, but due to the money that the Jazz offered up, he joined Utah. Miles spent eight seasons with the Jazz, where he registered a 40-point game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Miles moved on to Cleveland after Utah, where he made a record 10 three-pointers in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Miles eventually played for Indiana, Toronto, Memphis, Washington and Boston before calling his NBA career quits. He was a career 9.6 PPG scorer.
3. Darius Miles
From one Miles to the next. Darius Miles was another prep to pro player, as was one of the best players in Illinois during his high school days. The Los Angeles Clippers took a shot on Miles, making him the third pick of the 2000 NBA Draft. While Miles was never really able to live up to the hype, he did score 10.1 PPG on 49% shooting throughout his career. He immediately gelled with the Clippers, forming an intriguing team of Miles, Corey Maggette, Lamar Odom, Elton Brand and Quentin Richardson. After three seasons in Los Angeles, Miles moved on to Cleveland. While not that notable of a player in Cleveland, Miles found a home two years later in Portland. He was a gifted scorer in Portland, scoring 13.1 points in a game. The problem though was his rivalry with head coach Mo Cheeks, as well as his knee injuries.
2. Glen Davis
The inspiration for this NBA healthcare fraud article lands at number two on this list. This ranking may be a little biased because Glen Davis is one of my favorite NBA players of all time. He was an absolute stud at LSU, before becoming a second-round pick by the Seattle SuperSonics, before being traded to the Boston Celtics on draft night. Davis immediately took a reserve role, giving Kevin Garnett blows when needed. When he saw the court, he was oftentimes creating havoc in the paint, which helped win Boston a championship. Even after the championship, Davis continued to help the Celtics, as Garnett and Leon Powe dealt with injuries. He was eventually traded to the Orlando Magic, where he scored a career-high 33 points against the 76ers. After Orlando, Davis went to the Los Angeles Clippers, before injuries derailed the rest of his career.
1. Tony Allen
Tony Allen is the definition of a player that you love when he is on your team and a player that you hate when you have to play against him. Along with Glen Davis, Allen was able to use his defensive intensity to help the Boston Celtics win an NBA Championship in 2008. Allen signed with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2010, becoming a major part of the Grit-and-Grind mindset. While with the Grizzlies, Allen emerged as one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, often matching up with Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Due to his great defensive skills, Allen was named First-Team All-Defense, something that he was not afraid to tell his opponents. After his eight years in Memphis, the Grizzlies announced that they would retire Allen’s jersey for his great tenure.
Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok for more great FlurrySports content.
