It was a decade ago Kenny Anderson, then a Boston Celtics point guard, set a standard that has helped define the filthy-rich silliness of NBA players.
With the league two months into a lockout, Anderson lamented times were so tight, he might have to pare down his fleet of luxury automobiles.
He confided to The New York Times he owned eight cars, including a Porsche, a Lexus and a Range Rover. He was thinking of shedding a Benz.
Seen 10 years down a prosperous road, Anderson's parking garage looks downright quaint. With the average player's salary having approximately doubled in a decade to $5.36 million (U.S.), the definition of NBA excess has become, well, more excessive.
"I've seen (an NBA player) having two cars a day to drive. You know, 14 cars," said
Raptors sharpshooter Jason Kapono the other day. "Think about how absurd it is. You say 14 cars. All right, you may have some kids, a family of nine. But a single guy having 14 cars?
"It's one thing if Bill Gates wants to do that. But when you're 22 years old and you don't even have kids yet, it's not good."
Kapono, then, wasn't the least bit surprised when a representative of the NBA Players' Association addressed the Raptors recently on matters of financial prudence. A statistic was cited during the meeting that startled some of the hoopsters. It was said that 60 % of retired NBA players go broke five years after their NBA paychecks stop arriving.
Roy Hinson (NBA rep) said he knows of a current NBA player who owns 15 cars – said unwitting athletes have been charged as much as $5,000 a month for bill-paying services and as much as a $100,000 to have their taxes prepared by unscrupulous agents and business managers.
"If you never check up on someone," said Raptors guard Darrick Martin, "you become a target."
Public stories of NBA players in financial trouble occasionally make headlines. Back in October, Jason Caffey, who made an estimated $29 million during his eight-year NBA career, was in bankruptcy court seeking protection from his creditors, among them the seven women with whom he fathered eight children. And late last year Latrell Sprewell, who famously turned up his nose at a $21 million contract offer – "I've got to feed my family," was the money quote – had a yacht worth more than $1 million repossessed.
Source: NY Times
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