THE WORLD OF SPORTS “WHEN THE GLITS AND GLAMOUR ENDS”

Statistics shows that after an athlete retires from sports, he or she will be broke within five years. Why such a substantial loss in finances so soon after retirement? Because, of failure to prepare and educate themselves of the people around them and also their lavish taste for the finer things in life after the game has ended.

Many of these athletes are broke; not because they are dumb, but that they made dumb decisions about the people they entrusted with their money. They must learn that after they have signed these multi-million dollar contracts that they cannot help everybody that they grew up with. They must be wise and investigate the people that are handling their finances as well.

I think that Bill Cosby gave the best advice when he told Oprah and the kids that worked on his show (The Cosby Show), “To keep an eye on your own money.”

You must be able to trust those that are handling your finances. Money has a way of bringing out greed in many people and athletes are not exempt. Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Latrell Sprewell, Jack “The Ripper” Clark, Hall of fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, Dorothy Hamill, and many others.

One NBA athlete confessed that he was making 3.5 million dollars a year and did not have a place to live. When their game was over at the Staple Center, he would stay there and sleep at night. It was because of poor financial decisions on his part. The Bentleys, the girls, the clothes, and wild parties contributed to his financial ruin.

Latrell Sprewell was in his final season of a $62-million five-year contract and was offered a contract extension for close to $30 million dollars for three seasons and still had his yacht repossessed. The comment he made was, “I’ve got my family to feed.” One would think that his family’s welfare should have taken precedence over spending large amounts money on a yacht.

Will these athletes ever learn or will they continue to travel down the road to financial ruin?