What An NBA All-Star Learned After Going From Millions To Bankruptcy
'The money came so fast': What An NBA All-Star Learned After Going From Millions To Bankruptcy
Sara BelcherPodcast Writer Mon, April 21, 2025 Yahoo Finance
As a three-time NBA All-Star and former NBA Champion, Antoine Walker is one of the best basketball players of the 1990s and early 2000s. But his early success came with some difficult financial lessons.
Walker was signed to the Boston Celtics at just 19 years old. Throughout his 13-year athletic career, it's estimated he earned as much as $108 million — a large portion of which came from a six-year $71 million contract he signed at just 21.
"The money came so fast without the education," Walker told Ross Mac on the Financial Freestyle podcast (see video above or listen below).
Walker partly attributes his lack of financial education to the decisions that ultimately led him to file for bankruptcy in 2010.
Though he became debt-free just three years later, the former professional athlete now talks openly about his financial mistakes and offers advice for others to learn from them.
"I think it's my job to kind of use the things that I did wrong and just help [others] out," Walker said, addressing the challenges of newly minted professional athletes and those who come into wealth quickly.
"I know the things that they want to do," he said. "I know the things that they're buying. I know the things that they're overlooking. ... I try to put that back in their face and understand that this basketball career or any sports career is going to be short-lived, and you got a whole life to live after your career is over with."
