Justice for Dwight Howard?

Last Friday, Shams tweeted out non-explosive news:

Dwight Howard has been elected as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Howard’s impressive resume on the court:

• 8x All-Star

• 8x All-NBA

• 3x DPOY

• 2020 NBA Champion

Off the court, Howard is known for his philanthropic efforts in local and international communities and recently appeared on Season 33 of “Dancing With The Stars.”

Missing from his off-the-court ventures?

Ownership in the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream — despite Howard paying $7M for a slice of the franchise in 2020.

Instead, the money he sent for the purported purchase of the team was used by a Georgia businessman to buy luxury houses, cars, and artwork.

After being convicted by a Manhattan jury in October, last week a federal judge sentenced the swindler to over 12 years in prison.

Here’s the wild story:

The Purchase That Never Was

In 2020, the year Howard and the Lakers won the NBA Bubble Title, Howard was deceived by Atlanta businessman Calvin Darden Jr. The funds Howard delivered, according to Darden, were part of an investment towards purchasing the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. Darden misrepresented that Howard would become a part-time owner.

The WNBA team as eventually sold to a separate ownership group in 2021. Once reports of the sale surfaced, Howard discovered he had been defrauded.

Instead of using Howard’s millions to purchase the Dream, Darden laundered the money through several bank accounts and ultimately used the cash to buy a $3.7M mansion, a Rolls-Royce, a Lamborghini, a Porsche, Basquiat artwork, and other luxury goods.

The “Vision Plan” Scheme

To perpetrate the fraud, Darden created a “Vision Plan” to Howard regarding the purported purchase. The “Vision Plan” falsely claimed that various celebrities and companies would become advisors to the Dream once Howard paid, including Tyler Perry, Naomi Osaka, Aflac and Starbucks.

In reality, the individuals and organizations had never agreed to be advisors or sponsors of the Dream, and most had never heard of Darden.