players and money

[Reality]

Wow, i knew some pro athelets had problems with money management and associates.  Sounds like the problem is widespread.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3469271

[Reality]

Filing for bankruptcy is a long-standing tradition for NBA players, 60% of whom, according to the Toronto Star, are broke five years after they retire.

[westkoast]

This is an issue the league needs to address since it makes a lot of money off the backs of very young men.  I feel its part of their responsibility to provide quality resources (thoroughly checked out first) to help the players.  I've heard that they do have financial advisers they recomend but maybe it should be mandatory?  Heck pay Magic to do seminars haha

Players are rode like a meal ticket by so many people its not surprising.  Not saying some don't blow money like idiots.  They do.  I just can't imagine having double digit family members looking for a hand out plus friends plus accountants plus other business owners looking for investors, etc etc etc

[jemagee]

I think the following

You can't tell someone what to do with their money...you can't say you have to hire a financial advisor...unless you're willing to pay for it...i'm sure the nba has rookie seminars and i'm sure they tell them about saving money...they aren't their parents, or their guardians, they employ them...i'm sure the players are informed...maybe they just have a sprewell size family and it costs A LOT to feed them?

If anything this is a players association issue, it reflects bad on the players association more than on the NBA itself similar to how old NFL players getting the shaft reflects more on the NFLPA (in my mind) than the NFL...the current generations have no respect for those who came before (at least not where it matters, in the wallet)...but at some point, men with jobs are responsible for their own finances aren't they? 

Did someone hand hold you when you got your first job to make sure all your bills are paid and that you kept within your budget?  Maybe the scale is bigger, but if you don't have common sense it doesn't matter how much you make, you going broke

I know personality responsibility in America is something people seem uninterested in, it's always someone elses fault, there's always someone to sue or blame, but at some point stand up and say, yeah i screwed up

[Lurker]

There really is only one way to solve the problem of players going bankrupt...and that is to make it mandatory that a portion (over half ?) of their salaries go into a deferred annuity that is paid out over their lifetimes.

[westkoast]

I think the following

You can't tell someone what to do with their money...you can't say you have to hire a financial advisor...unless you're willing to pay for it...i'm sure the nba has rookie seminars and i'm sure they tell them about saving money...they aren't their parents, or their guardians, they employ them...i'm sure the players are informed...maybe they just have a sprewell size family and it costs A LOT to feed them?

If anything this is a players association issue, it reflects bad on the players association more than on the NBA itself similar to how old NFL players getting the shaft reflects more on the NFLPA (in my mind) than the NFL...the current generations have no respect for those who came before (at least not where it matters, in the wallet)...but at some point, men with jobs are responsible for their own finances aren't they? 

Did someone hand hold you when you got your first job to make sure all your bills are paid and that you kept within your budget?  Maybe the scale is bigger, but if you don't have common sense it doesn't matter how much you make, you going broke

I know personality responsibility in America is something people seem uninterested in, it's always someone elses fault, there's always someone to sue or blame, but at some point stand up and say, yeah i screwed up

I believe you are applying regular careers/jobs like most of us on the board work to the much different life/path of a professional sports player.  Of course our employers don't hold our hands, they didn't sit us down to teach us about a budget, or anything like that.  Our employers also don't constantly over step the boundary of getting into our personal lives nor do most of them expect us to be a model citizen 24/7 in fear of making the company look bad.  Unless you are an executive at a large corporation I don't think it's anywhere near the same as being a pro basketball player.  If you were to go to court for a domestic dispute would your employer suspend you with out pay for 3 days?  Would your company dispatch a PR person to your family members to try to repair your image with them?  Does your employer run commercials staring its employees reading to children?  The fact that they are so worried about image makes me feel like they need to provide the tools and knowledge for their players to make better decisions.  ESPECIALLY when it comes to younger players who are 19-20 years old going from getting some OJ Mayo type hand outs to being able to own a 5 million dollar home.  Huge huge jump and it really changes things when you start talking big money.

Since the league is very much focused in on their image it really would be in their best interest to at least propose something.  Maybe nudge the players union a bit more? (I do agree with you that this is maybe an issue better handled by the players union)   A lot of the image problems these players have stem from throwing money around.    The "'crews" certain players hang out with that the league is so worried about wouldn't be massive and as rowdy if money wasn't being blown so easily.  The "bad" family members?  They are looking for a hand out.  What about the type of people who want to exploit pro athletes and their money?   

I am not saying that getting them to pay more attention to their money and invest is gong to keep the Stephen Jackson's of the world from shooting up the strip club.  Just that if there was investments to manage and there wasn't just 50k worth of cash sitting in their house to take to the strip club that it would help a little bit.

[Reality]

There really is only one way to solve the problem of players going bankrupt...and that is to make it mandatory that a portion (over half ?) of their salaries go into a deferred annuity that is paid out over their lifetimes. 

How about if the players were made to buy gold?

(Sorry rt i couldn't resist.  Plus it really is a good buy now, huh?)

[jemagee]

What I'm employing is something i like to call common sense...doesn't matter how much money you make, if you don't have it,you are screwed, and you can't have it forced upon you.  NBA players should be in a BETTER position to hold on to their money cause they can afford all sorts of advisors and investments and such....hell, if you are a long term guy, you might wann short some oil these days, cause gravity should apply at some point.

Common Sense has nothing to do with what your job is or how much money you make, i'm well aware that the NBA is a different stratosphere, but common sense is common sense...players probably aren't going broke with more frequency than they did 10, 20, 30 years ago, but like all things, with the 24 hour news cycle and the desperate (i can't spell that darn word) need to have filler no hole is unplumbed, no nook or cranny ignored, plus ESPN has to give some of its 'journalists" (for guys like simmons i use the term VERY loosely because outside of the red sox i think he knows nothing) something to write about.

This isn't a new problem any more than steroids were a new problem in baseball...

[westkoast]

What I'm employing is something i like to call common sense...doesn't matter how much money you make, if you don't have it,you are screwed, and you can't have it forced upon you.  NBA players should be in a BETTER position to hold on to their money cause they can afford all sorts of advisors and investments and such....hell, if you are a long term guy, you might wann short some oil these days, cause gravity should apply at some point.

Common Sense has nothing to do with what your job is or how much money you make, i'm well aware that the NBA is a different stratosphere, but common sense is common sense...players probably aren't going broke with more frequency than they did 10, 20, 30 years ago, but like all things, with the 24 hour news cycle and the desperate (i can't spell that darn word) need to have filler no hole is unplumbed, no nook or cranny ignored, plus ESPN has to give some of its 'journalists" (for guys like simmons i use the term VERY loosely because outside of the red sox i think he knows nothing) something to write about.

This isn't a new problem any more than steroids were a new problem in baseball...

You can't teach common sense but you can teach people who to make better decisions with their money.

NBA players are in worse shape to handle money IMO.  They have so much of it and so many people who want a piece that it's easier to blow it then someone who has to watch their cash much more carefully like some of us.

[jemagee]

I'm just not sure what lenghts the league should be expected to go to...they have rookie seminars, they warn the rookies, they give them advice, at some point, grown ups are grown ups, and it's their own free will and decision...you can't force a guy to spend money on a fiancial advisor if he doesn't want to.

IMO, NBA players are in no worse shape to handle money than NFL players, or MLB players, or NHL players, or NASCAR Drivers, etc...so why is this an issue that only seems to be relevant to the NBA?

[Joe Vancil]

How about if the players were made to buy gold?

(Sorry rt i couldn't resist.  Plus it really is a good buy now, huh?)

**ROTFL**

Okay - this one goes down as message of the day.  Score one for Reality.