Over half of NBA players go broke after retiring

[starface]

Status is all relative. When all your friends got somethin and you dont, you feel like a broke ass, and maybe you over-spend to get somethin fresh or popular.

Guys in the league are teammates with dudes like Shaq and Lebron and them who rock the most insane expensive ****. It sounds crazy but when you're makin 2 million a year and your goin out to clubs with guys that are makin 17 million a year, that can make you feel like a chump.

Dudes will try to keep up with the guys who make the most dough and floss the most BL!NG BL!NG. They end up runnin out and lookin like retards when they retire.

It sounds ridiculous but in the NBA when you're "only" makin 2 or 3 mil a year, that's chump change. You can get caught up tryin to roll like the TMac's and Marbury's and them and then end up forced to turn preacher like Hammer after you retire so you can get paid by the collection plate.

[Interminator]

Exactly. Unless they get back into the NBA you're not gonna find many jobs to support your expenses unless you've saved and invested your money wisely beforehand.

They usually get into commentating(if they know how to speak English),coaching(If they understand basketball) or.....

[Shepseskaf]

Lemme guess, he CHOKED her?

The article didn't say, but it sounds like a good guess.

[Sharas]

i can see that happening to some, or even many players.. but 60 percent? thats more than half.. i can't believe half the NBA's current players will be broke 5 years after they retire.

maybe a bit too much, but i still don't have much trouble believing that.

it's similar to lottery winners. you suddenly give huge money to one who doesn't know how to handle it - since he didn't earn it by being good with money. he squanders it fairly quickly, mostly on flashy stuff that's got poor investment and re-sell value...especially since he comes from a poor background and wants to show off to everyone that he's got money now...temptations are obviously much bigger also than for an average joe...and he's eventually stuck since he's got no permanent, stable source of income to warrant having that kind of money in the first place.
another thing is, not all guys in the nba receive ten millions per year...not all guys play for ten or more years. and all of them can't become coaches or commentators.

[Penny4MVP2k]

I dont know where they are getting the 60% figure from. They would have to run down a list of players then show how they found them going broke. I didnt read the link/article tho...maybe it was explained. Eh

The figure is pretty staggering, but we have no idea what group of NBA players this is being sampled from.

I mean for all we know, the study could very well include the players who played in the 60's, where a guy like John Havlicek was making $55k his rookie year.

If you ask me, I can see a guy who's making $55k a year easily running out of $ if they aren't careful.

EDIT: Then again, I didn't read the whole article, so if something was stated about the specifics of who was sampled, then my comments are irrelevant.

[PejaNowitzki]

This is an easy concept. Give Donald Trump a million dollars and he'll have 10 million dollars within a year or two.

Give the average NBA player one million dollars, and they'll have expensive wheels, shiny rims, and a big sound system......and be eating out of the trash in a year.


There should be more mandatory financial education/information classes for NBA rookies. Guys should have to complete a certain amount of hours before they are allowed to step foot on a practice floor and then this stuff would not happen.

[johndough]

The NBA, commercial sport as a whole, is essentially a trap for inner city youth.It's not a coincidence.

[iamgine]

wow don't these guys have their own financial planner or something?

[rs98762001]

The NBA, commercial sport as a whole, is essentially a trap for inner city youth.It's not a coincidence.

Yeah, but there's a fine line between being exploited by others, and being too stupid to think for yourself.

[AppleNader]

Paychecks stop, bills dont.

Fact of Life that most people don't fully realize the extent of until their money is gone.

[starface]

This is an easy concept. Give Donald Trump a million dollars and he'll have 10 million dollars within a year or two.

hah, Donald Trump went bankrupt with his real estate investments, that's why he had to start whoring himself on TV to make money back.

[johndough]

Yeah, but there's a fine line between being exploited by others, and being too stupid to think for yourself.

It's way more complex than that.

[rs98762001]

It's way more complex than that.

Well of course it is. But ultimately nobody is forcing Spree to buy a dozen yachts at over a million each, nor are they forcing Caffey or Kemp to father eight children with eight different mothers. There's a certain level of ignorance and egotism rampant in the NBA that can't just be blamed on all the nasty rich owners who pay the inner city kids millions of dollars to play a game. A man is ultimately responsible for his own actions.

[johndough]

Well of course it is. But ultimately nobody is forcing Spree to buy a dozen yachts at over a million each, nor are they forcing Caffey or Kemp to father eight children with eight different mothers. There's a certain level of ignorance and egotism rampant in the NBA that can't just be blamed on all the nasty rich owners who pay the inner city kids millions of dollars to play a game. A man is ultimately responsible for his own actions.

Yes you agree.... it IS more complex than you make it out to be.

If I were to respond to the other points you make...which I agree with for the most part by the way.....it would entail getting into these 'other things'

[2LeTTeRS KD]

Honestly Everybody goes brok. Right now I work in collections for Wachovia (not the greatest job but it pays the bills, and able to pass time until I get in law school), and about a 1/4 of the people I talk to aren't poor, they're professionals - doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and athletes; who make a lot of money but live over they're heads. Its not just NBAers who go broke, a lot of people in the high-income sector of society do.