Between 2001 and 2008, former University of Arizona standout center Loren Woods would play 215 NBA games across four teams and six seasons. Now, he is working, at least part time, as an actor.
Woods, 47, describes on his LinkedIn profile his post-basketball transition into work both in front of the camera and behind it as a producer, alongside sporting two acting credits on IMDB. The first involves him wearing a hood and being completely unrecognisable as the “Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come” in Spirited, a 2022 Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds Christmas musical comedy movie that serves as a modern adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, in which Woods walks around briefly, “points at stuff” and does not speak. The second is a more prominent role, albeit in a less prominent film.
In the 2025 indie release, Envy Leads the Way, Woods – billed as Loren G. Woods – has actual dialogue and a lofty billing. Envy – which is currently available on the free media platform, Tubi, in its entirety – tells the stories of “several individuals with immensely different backgrounds and lives intertwine in stories of envy, resentment and vengeance”, according to a blurb lifted almost entirely from IMDB. And in the film, Woods plays – wouldn’t you know it? – a basketball agent, seen unnecessarily cradling a basketball throughout the entirety of his only significant scene, beginning at the 5:30 mark.
(To his credit, Woods does not live up to his name as an actor, and is much more convincing than the person he shares the scene with. Yes, I did watch it the whole way through. It was OK.)
Former Raptors Love Acting Gigs
Certainly, Woods is not the only former NBA player to try his hand at acting. Many others have gone before him, including when still active in their career as players.
LeBron James and Michael Jordan starred in the two Space Jam films, of course, and Ray Allen famously played Jesus Shuttlesworth in Spike Lee’s 1998 basketball drama He Got Game. Beyond them, Rick Fox (before turning to politics), John Salley and Boban MarjanoviÄ are among the many other former NBA players to have acting roles after their playing careers.
It is particularly common for former centers to do so, as their rare genetic gifts give them eminent bookability, albeit in a limited range of roles. In addition to Woods and Boban, former Boston Celtics big Jerome Moiso is creating profiles and looking for acting gigs, while former Dallas Mavericks novelty Pavel Podkolzin has actually had a modicum of success becoming an actor back in his native Russia. Another former NBA Victory Cigar, Mengke Bateer, has landed several acting roles back in China, including one in which he throws plenty of coconuts, while in this video, long-term NBA veteran Scot Pollard can be seen licking and stabbing in a 2013 horror B-Movie, The Axeman at Cutter’s Creek.
Woods’ Basketball Career
Woods was drafted 46th overall in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves after a four-year college career split between Wake Forest and the University of Arizona. His NBA career consisted of stints with the Timberwolves, Raptors, Miami Heat and Houston Rockets; in total, Woods appeared in 215 regular-season NBA games, averaging 2.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks per game while playing just over 11 minutes per contest.
His most extended NBA opportunity came during the 2004â05 season, when he was a 30-game starter for the Raptors. Playing alongside the aforementioned Moiso, as well as Pape Sow, Rafael Araujo, Matt Bonner and the A-Train Aaron Williams in a big man rotation that could perhaps best be described as “numerous”, Woods recorded career-highs of 3.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game, all while shooting 43.8% on lay-ups. Such was the NBA at the time.
Following his NBA tenure, Woods continued his career internationally. He played in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, including seasons in the then-D-League, Lithuania, Spain, Israel, Bahrain, Turkey and Lebanon. He finished his playing career in 2018, just before his 40th birthday.
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