Desmond Mason, who spent four seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2000s across two stints, was arrested May 7 on a felony warrant theft of property in Oklahoma City.
The 48-year-old is being held without bond at the Oklahoma County Detention Center, according to the center’s online database.
He’s labeled as a “flight risk,” News9 in Oklahoma City reported.
The incident comes from Mason not completing a job for a Texas couple in which he agreed to frame sports memorabilia in early 2025, News9 reported.
The couple hired him and paid him over $9,800 to complete the job, the station said. Mason reportedly sent the couple proof he completed the job but allegedly cut off communication with them. The memorabilia and authentication documents are valued at roughly $40,000, News9 reported.
Before being booked at the detention center, he was treated at a hospital, according to the station.
Mason, the 17th pick in the first round of the 2000 NBA Draft and the 2001 Slam Dunk Contest winner, joined the Bucks midway during the 2002-03 season in the infamous Gary Payton-Ray Allen trade. The Bucks sent Allen, Ronald Murray and Kevin Ollie to the Seattle Supersonics for Payton and Mason.
A disgruntled Payton left in the ensuing offseason, while Mason stayed for the next two seasons, playing in all 82 games in 2003-04, with 31 starts and averaging 14.4 points on a team that finished 41-41 and lost in the first round of the NBA playoffs to the eventual champion Detroit Pistons.
In his third year with the Bucks, Mason had a career-high 17.2 points per game and played in 80 games with 71 starts.
The Bucks traded Mason to the New Orleans Hornets before the 2005-06 season for Jamaal Magloire.
But two years later, he was back with the Bucks on a free-agent deal. He played the 2007-08 season in Milwaukee, where he shot a career-best 48.2% on 9.7 points in 59 games (56 starts).
He was traded again in summer 2008 in a three-team, six-player trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers in which the Bucks sent Mo Williams to Cavs, Mason to the Thunder, and got back Cleveland’s Damon Jones, the Thunder’s Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin, who briefly became the team’s head coach two years ago.
In four years with the Bucks, Mason played in 249 games with 183 starts, 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 32.5 minutes.
Mason last played in the NBA in 2010 for the Sacramento Kings.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ex-Bucks player Desmond Mason arrested in Oklahoma City for theft
Reporting by Christopher Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
