If I had to guess, a $500k windfall is a life changing amount of money for at least 75% of Americans. It still sucks for ISU but maybe it helped his family as well. We’ll see if that was only a short term gain at the cost of future NBA money. There’s no denying ISU has had a much better 10 year stretch putting talent in the NBA vs Texa$ and their oil money.
And taking the money now is a smart move in case there's an injury or whatever that derails the career.
Many people are super loyal to their jobs but if someone came along with that kind of raise, they'd be gone in no time.