No jail time for ex-NBA star Person

Former NBA sharpshooter Chuck Person was given a shot at redemption Wednesday by a judge who praised him as “charitable to a fault” before imposing a sentence of probation for accepting nearly $100,000 in bribes while coaching at Auburn University.

Person wiped away tears as Manhattan Federal Judge Loretta Preska praised him as a talented and generous mentor to young people.

“These crimes came about because of Mr. Person’s random acts of charity that happened all of the time,” Preska said. “He is charitable, literally, to a fault.”

Person, 55, destroyed his dream of coaching at Auburn by accepting $91,500 from a financial adviser, Marty Blazer, who was cooperating with federal prosecutors investigating corruption in the NCAA. In exchange for the secret payments, Person (photo), who was assistant coach at Auburn, directed players to retain the services of select financial advisers, including Blazer. “I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway,” Person said. “I failed these young men as a coach.”

When he took the bribes in 2016 and 2017, Person was broke. His decorated 14-year career in the NBA, which included Rookie of the Year honors in 1987 with the Indiana Pacers, made him rich — but he gave away a lot of money. Person bought homes for at least 10 family members, bought cars as gifts and put two nieces through college, Preska noted. He made generous donations to his high school, established a scholarship fund and built a community center in his hometown of Brantley in rural Alabama.

Person is the most prominent defendant to be convicted in prosecutors’ wide-ranging investigation of corruption in the NCAA. The probe revealed that shoe companies, sports agents, coaches and other hangers-on all vie for ways to make money off student athletes expected to make big bucks in the NBA.

Person must serve 200 hours of community service and forfeit $91,500.