Do 60 Percent of NBA Athletes Go Broke Five Years After Retirement? An Ex-Player Says Yes

Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2008
By: F. Finley McRae, BlackAmericaWeb.com



Officials representing the National Basketball Association and the organization that speaks for its players have strongly disagreed with an explosive Toronto Star article alleging that 60 percent of them "go broke" five years after retiring.

The article, printed in the newspaper's Jan. 31 issue and written by Star sports writer David Feschuk, was based on a statement reportedly made by former NBA player Roy Hinson.

In a recent meeting with NBA players, according to Feschuk, Hinson said that "60 percent of former players who go broke is a ballpark, but we've seen a lot of guys who've really come into hard times five years after they leave the league."

At least 75 percent of NBA players are African-American.

NBA players' salaries average $5.6 million a year. The league is comprised of 30 teams, each with 12 men. There are approximately 360 NBA players, excluding the ones who replace injured men during the season.

If the 60 percent figure is accurate, some 216 current NBA players will go broke not long after they retire, despite collective earnings of more than $1.2 billion during the 2007-2008 season and additional billions during their careers.


At age 62, NBA players become eligible for a lump sum pension of approximately $1.4 million. They must spend three years in the league to draw monthly pensions which pay $380 every 30 days or, after 10 years, $9,000 to $10,000 each month. In addition, all 30 teams match 50 percent of the funds players pay into 401-K retirement accounts.

Hinson, a former Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets forward, currently "helps administer and plan a mandatory financial education program jointly sponsored by the NBA and the NBA Players Association," according to a players association spokesman.

He travels to the NBA's 30 franchises to instruct the league's nearly 400 players, who are fined for failing to attend the bi-annual series consisting of a total of three hours of advice "focused on savings, investment and lifestyle changes players will need to make after retiring," the spokesman said.

"The problems are, for a lot of guys, they have a lot of cars, they have multiple houses, they're taking care of their parents. They're taking care of a whole host of issues. And the checks aren't coming in anymore," Hinson reportedly told Feschuk.

Hinson, wrote Feschuk, said that "its not just the spending, its the scamming." Hinson told Feschuk that blindsided players "have been charged as much as $5,000 a month for bill-paying services and $100,000 to have taxes prepared by their agents and business managers."

According to Feschuk, the players association has recommended a financial services company that offers free second opinions on their affairs. "Sometimes you can stop the bleeding, but at other times you can't," Hinson reportedly said, "because many players associate with too many 'yes' people."

In an effort to interview Hinson, BlackAmericaWeb.com placed numerous telephone calls to the NBA Players Association, but without success. Telephone calls were also placed to NBA Commissioner David Stern and G. William Hunter, executive director of the players association. Neither man returned them.

An NBA spokesman said that Stern, in an ESPN interview, said "he doesn't believe the figure of 60 percent is accurate."

The spokesman, however, said Stern has no league figure for the percentage of players who lose their assets after retiring and that he doesn't know when -- or if -- the NBA will produce one.

John Black, the Los Angeles Lakers' vice president of public relations, told BlackAmericaWeb.com that the 60 percent figure is "quite an eye opener, but not something I'd want to talk about publicly."

Black said he has "no idea whether it's accurate or not. There aren't any studies (on which to base a figure), and we don't discuss players' salaries." He said, "There are some retired players who've had financial difficulties, but I don't know the number."

Seth Burton, assistant director of communications for the Los Angeles Clippers, echoed Black's comment when he said, "I haven't heard this percentage, and I don't know of any way to come up with an accurate figure. We don't have any statistics."

Sam Cassell, the Clippers' players association representative, did not return a call BlackAmericaWeb.com placed to him through Burton.

Daniel Wasserman, director of communications for the NBA Players Association, told BlackAmericaWeb.com that he's sure "60 percent of the retired players are not in Chapter 11, (bankruptcy)." But, he said, "there may be a number of former players who need to make changes in their extravagant lifestyles, but that doesn't mean they're living under a bridge."

Without naming any players, Wasserman said, "there are some who've been through the league in the past 10 years who've ended up with nothing. You might find 10 to 12 guys who experienced hardships because of bad investments and wild spending, but I can't tell you if they're two percent or 10 percent."

The Legends Foundation established the players association for retired hoopsters with have financial problems "who've been out of the league for a long time and who didn't earn a lot of money because salaries weren't nearly as high." Some of them apply for funds each year, Wasserman said.

Nevertheless, Wasserman asserted, "I'm almost positive that if you go back 25 years, 50 percent of them wouldn't be in Chapter 11."

So what??

I would like to see such research on all pro-athletes (NFL/NBA/MLB)....

Basketball players make so much money (and its guaranteed) that it would seem you would have to be especially dumb to go through it all...