Almost 80 percent of National Football League players are flirting with bankruptcy two years after they retire, according to Sports Illustrated. NBA players arenât faring much better. 60 percent of former National Basketball Association players end up broke within five years of retirement. Athletes squander millions of dollars due to bad decisions, lavish spending and poor financial planning. Here is a list of athletes that have lost their fortunes through some of the biggest financial blunders of all time. Scottie Pippen Known more for his on court defense than his off court business sense, former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen lost $120 million in career earnings due to poor financial planning and bad business ideas. Air Jordanâs sidekick blew $27 million on bad investments and spent $4.3 million on a Gulfstream II corporate jet. Evander Holyfield Four-time boxing champ Evander âThe Real Dealâ Holyfield reportedly made over $250 million in cash during his boxing career, but despite this he reportedly is flat broke. Holyfield lost all his money by making âsmartâ business decisions look really foolish. You thought buying a house was a smart move? It normally is, but not when you buy a house the size of Rhode Island. Holyfield bought a $20 million house with over 54,000 square feet and 109 rooms. The house has 11 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, a movie theater, a bowling alley and an Olympic-size swimming pool. Imagine how much it must cost to cut the grass on all 235 acres! You could buy a Range Rover with the electric bill payment alone. Lenny Dykstra Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies star Lenny âNailsâ Dykstra was a success on the baseball diamond, but in the business field Dykstra has struck out. Dykstraâs failed businesses include car washes, a magazine company, real estate investing and a stock trading website. According to Dykstraâs July 2009 bankruptcy filing, he owed more than $30 million to creditors, including his $18.5 million purchase of Wayne Gretzkyâs home. The amazing part is that after two foreclosed homes and numerous failed businesses Dykstra is offering the investment advice that led him into bankruptcy for a mere $899 a year! In the investment world, it is often said that past history does not dictate future performance. Nevertheless, itâs pretty clear Dykstra isnât the guy to go to for advice. Latrell Sprewell Look up the word âshortsightedâ in the dictionary and you will see a picture of Latrell Sprewell. He famously turned down a $21 million contract because he said it wasnât enough money to feed his family. Sprewell, who made over $96 million during his career, lost his $1.5 million dollar Italian yacht, named âMilwaukeeâs Bestâ, in 2007. According to MSNBC, a U.S. marshal seized the yacht after Sprewell defaulted on his mortgage. His $5.4 million house went into foreclosure in May 2008. Donât blame Sprewell for turning down the three-year, $21 million contract though. I mean really, who could live off a measly $7 million a year? John Daly Two-time PGA major champ John Daly gambled away between $50 and $60 million in career earnings, according to his 2006 autobiography. Daly once lost $1.65 million in five hours playing the slot machines at a casino. If you think thatâs impressive, thereâs more. Daly blew $1.2 million in a mere two hours and 30 minutes at a casino in Las Vegas. He just had his $1.6 million house foreclosed on. Did Daly quit gambling after blowing so much cash at the casino tables? Not by a long shot. Instead, he decided to downgrade from the $5,000 slot machines to the $100 and $500 machines. It looks in John Dalyâs world, that is considered sound financial planning. Jack Clark Former professional baseball slugger Jack Clark was driven into bankruptcy in 1992 by his appetite for luxury cars. According to his bankruptcy filing, he owned 18 luxury automobiles, including a $700,000 Ferrari and a Rolls Royce. Clark was trying to pay 17 car notes simultaneously, and whenever he got bored with a car he would get rid of it and just buy another one. He ended up losing million-dollar homes and his drag-racing business because of his extravagant spending habits, but despite one of the most publicized bankruptcies in baseball, Clark reportedly got back on his feet in the late â90s. Mike Tyson The king of them all is boxer Mike Tyson, who squandered a $350 million to $400 million dollar fortune. So what did âIronâ Mike spend his fortune on? Everything. He dropped half a million dollars on a 420-horsepower Bentley Continental SC with lambâs wool rugs, a phone and a removable glass roof. It is one of only 73 Bentley Continental SCs ever built. The sad part is thatâs not even the only Bentley that Tyson owned! He spent over $4.5 million dollars on cars alone. Throw in a $2 million dollar bathtub and $140,000 for two Bengal tigers and you can see why Tysonâs fortune is down for the count. He filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
The fact is that most of these guys aren't equipped to manage their personal finances. Throw in millions of dollars, lots of girls/partys and relatively short earning careers and you have a recipe for financial disaster. Have you ever watched that lottery winner show? Very similar, IMO.
what I don't get is, at some point they must become conscious of the fact that the money is depleting at a high rate which must then make them nervous and automatically cause them to rethink their spending habits, no?! are they that stupid???
what do you do when you don't know any better? Is it just me or most of these guys are black? Funniest one is Latrell sprewell rejecting 21m$. I really liked that guy too but some of them like iron mike you could see it coming - Bet ya never see don king in that list
The spending is an anesthetic for their self esteem that they don't want to confront. As long as they are spending, they don't have to think about anything that is real. There are many anesthetics that people use: drugs, alcohol, food, toys, work, TV, sex, spending, gambling, trading (oops, did I say trading).....
Lenny, couldn't have happened to a better person. And who says there is no such thing as karma. The other fact overlooked as the avg. career of football player is less than baseball or basketball due to injuries. A quick review and half of them have poor moral character, including Sprewell. Don't take my word for it a quick google search.
Most pro athletes are greedy and stupid, a terrible combination. Also, many of them are surrounded by parasites who suck them dry and give them terrible advice. Here's another guy to add to the list (not sure if he's broke, but definitely not a smart man)- Juan Gonzalez turned down an 8 year $140,000,000 contract in 2000. After turning down the contract in 2000, he was traded and signed a one year ten million dollar contract in 2001. Due to numerous injuries, he was out of baseball by 2005.
They do it to impress their fake ass friends and inflate their big ego. Most of them probably are black. When you've never seen a dollar bill in your life before, what do you think they're going to do when they have 10+ million? As the saying goes "Either learn to rap or play basketball" Most of them probably grew up poor in the projects. I don't mean to sound racist, but african americans are terrible with money. They'll but 24's on their car before they make a rent payment, and thats real talk folks. My Fiance works at a lending company, and she cant count how many customers they have that drive bmw's and pimped out 300's, and all this flashy sh-t, but are 3 months behind on a 500.00 loan..... So you see, a lot of these people try to act like their some big-shot Hustler, but dont have .10 cents in the bank (hell most of'em dont have bank accounts) and you have guys making millions, and blow everything. Whatever.....Whatever Kon