RealGM

this is pathetic, i read an article today that said 60% of NBA players are completely broke after 5 years of retirement. i guess it shouldnt completely surprise me, but it does make me sick. and i guess i'll probably never know what having millions of dollars is like, but this is just pathetic.

remember when sprewell had his $1 million dollar boat repossessed? haha! just after turning down $21 million...

http://lebasketbawl.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... years.html

i dont understand how this is possible. the average NBA player should have AT LEAST 25 million in the bank after a 10 season career.

what exactly do they spend it on?

houses, cars and drugs only cost so much.

that really is pathetic, with the money these people earn, no one, no one should go broke

Is that taking into account all players ever? Then it makes sense , they didn't make money back then. It's the players the last few years making big bucks.

The NBA needs to offer better education for it's players on how to invest and save money and also to make them aware that their income stream is for a limited time only. It's ridiculous how much money they piss away on luxury items. These athletes could always count on their athletic ability to get them out of trouble and pay the bills and once they grew old it's gone and they have to become "normal". It's quite a reform and can mess with their psyche. THem being broke so soon after retiring gives the NBA a black eye in education imo.

In Sprewell's defense, he had to feed his family.

raps4life~ wrote:i dont understand how this is possible. the average NBA player should have AT LEAST 25 million in the bank after a 10 season career.

what exactly do they spend it on?

houses, cars and drugs only cost so much.

Lawyers cost money, agents cost money, wives cost money, kids cost money...ain't nothing free.

What do you think the government takes off of a maximum salary?

There are a million ways to go broke. I heard Scottie Pippen was in some serious financial problems a little while back. He was severly underpaid for most of his career. He apparently got involved with some shady financial advisor that ended up costing him $20M.

if you think NBA players have $25M in the bank, you are naive.

How exactly was the information for this statistic collected?

BooRadley wrote:Is that taking into account all players ever? Then it makes sense , they didn't make money back then. It's the players the last few years making big bucks.

There's also a lot of journeymen who play one or two years on a minimum-salary contract, and then never make it back to the NBA. I can see how it happens. They make $400K in the first year, $650K in the second year, and establish a lifestyle of a 6-figure salary with a big house in the upscale suburbs, lots of clubbing and dining out, a posse, and fancy furniture and cars. Then two years later, the GM pulls out the rug from underneath them, tells them they're cut, and suddenly they've got zero income and a $700K mortgage. Meanwhile, they have no real job skills and no prospects.

Well maintaining 10 cars and couple houses can get spendy. Not to mention agents get their cut, and the government takes half.

Like someone said already, 60% of all retired NBA players? NBA players didn't make that much money back in the day.

That said, I think any NBA player who signs a multi-million dollar contract is an idiot if he ends up broke. It's not that complicated. If you're a mid first round pick and sign 4-year deal with $7M, I don't see why it's so hard to set aside just $1M. $1M at 7% interest plus a paid-for home is enough to keep food on the table for the rest of your life.

The problem is most reasonable people could take $400K and buy two homes for cash, renovate them, and rent them out to establish monthly income.

diamond bling, bentley's, and crystal are expensive.

just look at shaq's monthly expenses from his divorce filings.

Let's be blunt here. These guys aren't getting rich based on their intelligence and financial acumen. A lot of these guys would be looking at a McJob for 7 bucks an hour if it weren't for their basketball skills. It's not surprising that these guys go broke. The ones that are smart, Magic, Hakeem, Jordan, Kobe, Lebron, et al end up making more money outside of basketball than they did playing.

it said nba players retired for at least 5 years.

that means players who haven't had their whole careers in this newer huge salary era.

then take into account that a lot of players from the 50s-early 90s didn't even make $1 million year. granted there is some level of inflation but not that much especially in the 80s.

i can't even blame the nba for that. only in the last 15 years have players made HUGE amounts of money. if you're in the nba you usually retire around the time that you are starting to have a family (early/mid 30s if you aren't a star) and then you have no real job experience and have to feed your family.

i think that players now won't have as many problems because even scrubs make considerably more money than your average joe.

deeney0 wrote:In Sprewell's defense, he had to feed his family.

Someone needs to calculate how many kids he'd need to have to make his claim realistic.

Baby mamma's

Thats what happens when you sell your soul for ridiculous athletic ability and a chance to be famous.....

jk.. seriously though this isnt really that surprising to me... I imagine most NBA players not being very smart.. Biggie said it best: "Mo money, Mo problems."

Also, its funny that people always say how ridiculous it is that teachers get paid so much less than athletes etc. however teachers probably invest and spend their money wisely and may end up living the better life down the line (excluding the ridiculous rich athletes like Magic, LeBron etc)

60% of NBA players are dumb.