Don't forget Antoine Walker. He went broke. too. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ba...himmied-his-way-to-Puerto-Rico?urn=nba,226915
When you have that much money and you really dont need more, why not do the safe thing and just keep the vast majority of it in a bank and earn interest?
That's the common sense solution. But maybe the same drive that it takes to be a top player in the NBA makes you want to make a lot more money than you have, even if you don't need it.
I swear to God, I just don't get it. These kinds of stories amaze me. If NBA players took just one-quarter of their salaries and put it in a money market account or a CD, they'd never have to worry about money again for the rest of their lives. It's such a simple concept, and yet some of them don't seem to even consider it.
There are better investments than a bank account, and they are relativly safe also. These stories do amaze me also but then again if someone gave me 10mill when I was 18 I would probably be dead now.
I can see this being true, considering most of these guys come from nothing and then all of a sudden are millionaires. The maturity isn't there to think fiscally. I think this is the reason now that the NBA has mandatory financial planning classes for all rookies.
A lot of rich people came from nothing . . . and it taught them the importance of saving their money. I think it's ironic, to say the least, that in a country that supposedly holds down the black man and denies him opportunities, 60 percent of the NBA millionaires lose everything the system gives them anyway. Something tells me it's not the system that is holding down the black man, but the black man himself . . .
I'm not sure how you went from what NBA players do with their money to the black man holding himself down . . . but if that isn't a general stereotype, I don't know what is. They say many lottery winners end up losing their fortune. Is that an example that white people are idiots?
It's an example that some white people are idiots, for sure. But when 60% of NBA players are flat broke within 5 years of leaving the league, after having made many millions of dollars, that suggests that the problem may be larger than a few isolated cases . . .
It isn't just NBA players or athletes that make this mistake... lottery winners do the same thing. I think with NBA players they are making the mistake of thinking they have income forever... when they are only looking at a 5 or so years really at the very high rate. And also consider they are not actually getting the gobs of money you see in contacts... half of that is going to taxes. Most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and not saving much money either. To some people extra money means luxury things... toys etc... Personally I view it as security. I like to know I can take care of my family. Seriously... if I won the lottery my life wouldn't change much (well... except for the luxury Blazer box ) but the security would be awesome!
A lot of these guys are taken advantage of by business managers and agents. I don't think you guys understand how coddled a lot of NBA players are. They are told where to be almost every second of every day. Darius Miles didn't make many decisions for himself. They are told what to do with their money. Travis Outlaw had an allowance from his parents during his rookie season. They wouldn't know what to do with their money if they had full control of it. Charles Barkley lost millions to a shady business manager. So did Michael Vick. It's a common tale.
