After nearly three and a half years in custody, the former professional basketball player will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Rashid Bird, who played in the NBA D-League and overseas, was sentenced to 90 years in prison for a series of violent sexual assaults.
Byrd was arrested by Los Angeles police in 2020 after investigating a victim’s report that Byrd assaulted her the previous year.
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Rashid Bird of the Los Angeles D. Fenders boxes out during a game at Staples Center on November 30, 2008 in Los Angeles. (Johnny Vee/NBAE via Getty Images)
The investigation also revealed that Byrd was convicted of sexual assault in 2010 and arrested for sexual assault in Washington in 2005.
“He started off as a charmer, flaunting his status as an athlete and pseudo-celebrity, but that quickly faded into rape and violence,” said Det. Dara Brown, lead investigator on the case.
Rashid Bird of the Los Angeles D-Fenders during the D-League game against the Bakersfield Jam at Staples Center on December 14, 2008 in Los Angeles. (Johnny Vee/NBAE via Getty Images)
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“The Los Angeles Police Department is grateful to the brave women who came forward to tell their stories,” Brown added. “This investigation has been going on for years, and we are grateful Byrd is no longer on the streets.”
Bird, who is 7 feet 1 inch tall, signed with both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings, but never appeared in an NBA game. He appeared in 19 games with the Lakers’ D-League affiliate during the 2008-09 season.
Rashid Bird attends the GBK Luxury Sports Lounge prior to the ESPY Awards Ceremony at W Hollywood on July 15, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Tommaso Boddi/GBK Productions via Getty Images)
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Bird also appeared on Will Ferrell’s hit song “Semi-Pro.”
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