J.P. 03 said:
I know it's easy to point and laugh when guys who make millions of dollars somehow end up in debt, but this detail from the article you linked caught my attention and almost makes me feel bad for the guy. How is this still a thing in 2025? Seems like the NBA and players' union would have guidelines/training that specifically tell players not to work with companies like this:
Quote:
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in New York more than three years after a company that specializes in loaning money to professional athletes won a nearly $5.8 million judgment against Beasley in Maryland, court records show. The company, South River Capital, LLC, has loaned more than $250 million to athletes in recent years.
...
"It is very common for professional athletes to go to third-party lenders and get advances on contracts. It's a part of the business of professional sports," Haney told The News. "Many of these lenders are predatory and charge extremely high interest rates and outrageous fees that border on usury."
Almost one year ago, in August, Beasley signed a deal with a Florida firm that provides bridge loans to pro athletes. As collateral, Beasley pledged his current and future NBA contracts, according to a copy of the financing statement obtained by The News.
I know I'm two weeks behind on this comment, but I have a friend that made it to the NFL as a first round pick a while back, and we talked on this topic for a while over beers one night.
I believe the NBA has an option for players to take their salary bi-weekly (like the rest of us), but in the NFL, they still got paid "game checks".
That means, you take a 22 year old kid who doesn't know jack about finances, they get drafted in April, maybe get a signing bonus when they sign their contract, but then they get their first paycheck after the first game in September. They then get 18 weeks in a row of a giant paycheck. (they spend a ton of it on cars, houses, jewelry, etc. because they are 22 and most of the time have never had real money in their life) and then after that they don't get a paycheck for the next 34 weeks in a row. It's insane.
He said a lot of guys are told about the fact that they are paid that way, but don't really get it. They get used to that $500k check every week and they spend a bunch of it. In reality, they need to save 80% of each of their paycheck so that they can cover bills in the offseason.
