Terence Williams, the former NBA player, has pleaded to charges of health care fraud. Williams was arrested on October 7, 2021, along with 15 other former players for conspiracy to defraud the health care plan the NBA has in place for its players. Williams’ sentencing is scheduled to take place in January 2023. 

Reports suggest that $4 million were fraudulently claimed by the players and that Williams was the kingpin of the conspiracy. Williams reportedly got hold of fake medical invoices and supplied the same to his co-conspirators. The scheme was carried out from 2017 to 2020. Williams was also given kickbacks worth a total of $300,000 from the reimbursements that his co-conspirators received. A number of these players were associated with the Boston Celtics.

Who is Terence Williams?

Terence Williams’ full name is Terence Deshaun Williams. He was born in 1985 and played for the Rainier Beach High School basketball team, where he was a starter for four years.

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He is one of the few players to have graced the cover of Sports Illustrated on three consecutive occasions. Williams’ coach, Rick Pinito, described him by saying that “He’s a freakish athlete”. Williams, who usually played as a shooting guard or small forward, won the 2005 Kentucky Derby Basketball Classic’s dunk contest.

The first triple-double of Williams’ career came during his stint with the New Jersey Nets. Williams achieved this feat on April 9, 2010, in a match against the Chicago Bulls which the Nets won by a scoreline of 127–116. Since then, he had stints with the Houston Rockets, the Sacramento Kings, the Guangdong Southern Tigers, and even the Boston Celtics, with whom he had initially signed a contract for 13 days.

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Williams was named in the All-NBA D-League Third Team in 2014 and in the 

Third-team All-American by the Associated Press and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.