FILE – Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard looks on during an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, March 16, 2022, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King, File) NEW YORK — A Georgia businessman was convicted Friday of scamming former NBA star Dwight Howard out of millions of dollars in a bogus scheme to buy the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. The jury returned its verdict against Calvin Darden Jr.
on Friday afternoon after a trial in New York City. Darden was also convicted of cheating former NBA forward Chandler Parsons in a separate ruse. Howard — one of the NBA’s most dominant centers during the prime of his 18-year professional career — testified during the trial that Darden fooled him into giving him $7 million by convincing him that it was an investment toward the purchase of the Dream.
In reality, a three-member investor group that included former player Renee Montgomery bought the team in 2021. When a prosecutor asked him if he got anything in return for his $7 million, Howard testified that he got “a slap in the face.” Prosecutors said Darden also teamed up with a sports agent to fool Parsons, who had a 9-year NBA career, into sending $1 million that was supposed to aid the development of James Wiseman, who currently plays in the NBA.
Darden’s conviction came eight years after he was sentenced to a year in prison for impersonating his successful father in a failed bid to buy Maxim magazine. In that case, Darden got leniency by coop.