Advertisement - scroll for more content
Will Bynum sentenced to 18 months in prison for NBA insurance fraud scheme
Will Bynum, who played for the Detroit Pistons for. six seasons, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for his conviction in a scandal involving NBA insurance fraud.
Bynum, 41, of Bensenville, Illinois, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court, where a jury convicted him in November of conspiring to make false statements related to NBA players who submitted false dental and medical claims to the NBA Players' Health and Benefit Welfare Plan. More than 20 people have been convicted in the case, many of them onetime NBA players.
A federal jury in Manhattan on Wednesday convicted two former National Basketball Association players over their roles in a scheme to defraud a league healthcare plan into paying millions of dollars for bogus medical procedures.
Glen Davis, 37, who played for three NBA teams and won a championship in 2008 with the Boston Celtics, was convicted on four counts including wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiring to commit fraud, and conspiring to make false statements. Will Bynum, 40, who played for three teams including the Detroit Pistons, was found guilty of conspiring to make false statements, but acquitted on a fraud conspiracy charge.
Advertisement
Examples of the alleged fraudulent medical procedures included Davis and another player receiving crowns on the same six teeth on the same day, and Davis receiving crowns on eight teeth in Beverly Hills though he was in Nevada. Bynum, meanwhile, was accused of receiving about $182,000 on a fraudulent claim related to a chiropractic office in Encino, California, and paying Williams a $30,000 kickback.
When Killian Hayes was available after the first six picks of the 2020 NBA draft passed, Will Bynum had a strong hunch that he would end up in Detroit. Bynum, who played 338 games for the Pistons from 2008-14, has been Hayes’ trainer and mentor since 2019. A few weeks before the draft, they had a training session in Hayes’ hometown of Lakeland, Fla.
“I was hearing the feedback from the Pistons and everything, and I knew it was one of the situations that Killian wanted,” Bynum said. “He had a great conversation with coach (Dwane) Casey and I think that was everything. It’s one of those situations where I think that the energy that Killian put out there, the effort that he put out and the hard work, and then me being around him, I think that’s how Detroit came about. “I think that he landed in the perfect situation — a situation that he wants to be in, in a place that wants him."
Hayes was high on Detroit’s draft board for multiple reasons. His size, feel for the game and experience as a European player separated him from much of the rest of the pack. Bynum is confident Hayes will have a head start in his transition to the NBA, echoing sentiments from both Casey and Weaver. Hayes has already been playing professional basketball for three years, and prior to his professional debut, he was surrounded by the game. His dad, DeRon, was a standout at Penn State from 1989-93. When Hayes was a baby, DeRon moved the family to Cholet, France after signing with LNB Pro A, France’s top men’s basketball league.
Advertisement
“My dad, he’s been here from the start,” Hayes said. “I remember when I was younger, just going to his home games, all of his practices. So I got to learn at a young age what being a professional was. And having him there each and every step was really helpful. Definitely a blessing having a father that played professionally.”
Eric Woodyard: Ex-Pistons guard Will Bynum helped train new Detroit draft pick Killian Hayes. Bynum tells ESPN that, “It’s a honor to put on red and blue and for me personally, it’s relief and excitement knowing he is great hands with Coach Casey and the Pistons, but now the real work starts!”
D-League Digest: Will Bynum has signed an NBADL contract, league source tells D-League Digest.
Adam Johnson: Will Bynum has signed an NBADL contract, league source tells D-League Digest.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement