A NBA player who was formerly signed with the Detroit Pistons may be facing 11 months of jail time if he does not pay the $53,053 that he reportedly owes to a Michigan woman for child support. A judge handed down the delayed sentence at a recent hearing for the player, who has been charged with child abandonment and desertion. He will only be required to serve the jail sentence if he fails to make the payment and has been allowed to travel with his new NBA team.
The player, who entered the NBA in 2002 and appeared on the Pistons’ roster for two seasons, has also been ordered to pay over $1,000 in legal costs and fees and must attend a hearing every month until he successfully pays the delinquent child support.. He did not speak at his hearing, but his attorney stressed that the player would make the ordered payment after he receives his next paycheck.
The mother of the player’s two sons addressed the court before the player’s sentencing, noting that he fathered two girls with another woman. She pointed out that the player should “understand as a father what it takes to raise one child, let alone two,” adding that she is “a first-time mother.” She told the court that she has been “very informative” to the player regarding her need for his financial help and is disappointed by his failure to respond to her requests.
The mother of the children claimed that she wakes up before dawn every day in order to take the children, then works nearly 12-hour days. She said that she typically follows this routine six days each week in order to provide for her daughters. Their father has “had every opportunity to be involved in their lives,” she explained, but has repeatedly failed to meet her expectations.
Source: Daily Tribune, “Former Piston Flip Murray owes Pontiac woman thousands in child support,” Dave Phillips, Oct. 9, 2012