NBA player saving money

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CyberJJJ

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I seem to remember Jeff Hornacek (it might also have been Fred Hoiberg) said when he received his NBA paychecks, at least for the first few years, he lived off the amount he would have been making if he used his ISU degree so he wasn't spending beyond his means. Does anyone remember the article/interview on that?
 

BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
I seem to remember Jeff Hornacek (it might also have been Fred Hoiberg) said when he received his NBA paychecks, at least for the first few years, he lived off the amount he would have been making if he used his ISU degree so he wasn't spending beyond his means. Does anyone remember the article/interview on that?
Had supper with a group that had Johnny and Fred in it when he was with the Pacers. Fred went to the restroom and Johnny mentioned (unsure how it came up) that Fred was basically dirt cheap and socking everything away. Said he will have no financial worries but was concerned about money quite a bit. Think it was after Fred mentioned he had to leave the bench for a fine and first thought was, well reggies fight will cost me 5k but if I don’t the team will turn on me; so he just realized it was necessary.
 

cyjones75

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Had supper with a group that had Johnny and Fred in it when he was with the Pacers. Fred went to the restroom and Johnny mentioned (unsure how it came up) that Fred was basically dirt cheap and socking everything away. Said he will have no financial worries but was concerned about money quite a bit. Think it was after Fred mentioned he had to leave the bench for a fine and first thought was, well reggies fight will cost me 5k but if I don’t the team will turn on me; so he just realized it was necessary.
 

cyjones75

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I seem to recall it was Jeff H. who lived on what he would have made in a regular job because he and his wife did not know how long his career would last. I believe he drove his old car he had at ISU for a while as a pro.
 

drmwevr08

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So smart to do that because they do never know. Just this morning read about a former NFLer who's getting charged for unpaid child support. Don't know if he's got any money but he already filed bankruptcy once since retiring. I remember long time MLBer Travis Eckstein was known for driving a Toyota and sleeping on his sisters couch or something like that!
 
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srjclone

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I forgot who it was, I think maybe Gronk, but once he started getting endorsement deals he forced himself to live only off of that money. Not that that is a small amount of money, knowing how big of a star Gronk was in his prime, but just the mindset to realize "hey, I can live more than happily on this money here" allows you to be set up so well for the future, no matter how long your career lasts.
 
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davegilbertson

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Friend of a friend had some insight into Seneca's habits, and it sounds like he took plenty of ribbing for how frugal/wise he was with his money. Driving used car, not being lavish. Imagine there's quite a bit of pressure to live like you're going to have a 20 year HOF career, both internally and externally.

We all are prone to quickly adapt to living pay check to pay check without discipline.
 

Mr.G.Spot

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Hornacek........I also think he never hired an agent...... saving 6% of gross pay. He was an accounting major.
 
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brokenloginagain

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career nba earnings (before they made much bigger bucks as coaches) for hornacek and hoiberg is $35m.

basically what THT will earn by age 23.

hoiberg making 200k and being frugal is a bit different than THT making 9m a year. and THT paying an agent was well worth it in his case - made him millions.
 
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VeloClone

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career nba earnings (before they made much bigger bucks as coaches) for hornacek and hoiberg is $35m.

basically what THT will earn by age 23.

hoiberg making 200k and being frugal is a bit different than THT making 9m a year. and THT paying an agent was well worth it in his case - made him millions.
There is also a huge difference between two guys (Hoiberg and Hornacek) with four year degrees and a kid who is one year removed from HS. I'm sure both the guys with degrees were more prepared to make those financial decisions themselves than one of the youngest guys in the NBA was.
 

flynnhicks03

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So smart to do that because they do never know. Just this morning read about a former NFLer who's getting charged for unpaid child support. Don't know if he's got any money but he already filed bankruptcy once since retiring. I remember long time MLBer Travis Eckstein was known for driving a Toyota and sleeping on his sisters couch or something like that!

David Eckstein, but I heard the same story. He would go to the library to use their internet. Pretty funny.
 

CYdTracked

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NBA contracts and salaries are different than they were back then but I have heard that Loren Meyer blew through his NBA money and it wasn't spent on wise choices either. I did a search on Google that put his career earnings at $2.38 mil which is a drop in the bucket in today's NBA but as a 1st round pick (24th overall) his initial contract was on-par for what a late 1st rounder would get back then. I'm guessing there were a lot more players like Fred in the days that were smart and realized that not many make a long career in the NBA so save what you can upfront that might carry you over financially once your playing days are over.
 

Gunnerclone

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I forgot who it was, I think maybe Gronk, but once he started getting endorsement deals he forced himself to live only off of that money. Not that that is a small amount of money, knowing how big of a start Gronk was in his prime, but just the mindset to realize "hey, I can live more than happily on this money here" allows you to be set up so well for the future, no matter how long your career lasts.

I think Gronk lived at home with his parents during the off-season for a time during his career.
 
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srjclone

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Chad 'OchoCinco' Johnson is actually a pretty fun follow on twitter and he is self proclaimed #TeamFrugal. His antics while in the league, made it seem like he could have been set up for a "BROKE" type scenario, but all things I've heard about him are he is sitting pretty on a pile of cash while driving around a SmartCar and eating McDonalds breakfast 3 times a week haha
 
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BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
NBA contracts and salaries are different than they were back then but I have heard that Loren Meyer blew through his NBA money and it wasn't spent on wise choices either. I did a search on Google that put his career earnings at $2.38 mil which is a drop in the bucket in today's NBA but as a 1st round pick (24th overall) his initial contract was on-par for what a late 1st rounder would get back then. I'm guessing there were a lot more players like Fred in the days that were smart and realized that not many make a long career in the NBA so save what you can upfront that might carry you over financially once your playing days are over.
Thought he bought some farm ground.
 
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usedcarguy

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Had supper with a group that had Johnny and Fred in it when he was with the Pacers. Fred went to the restroom and Johnny mentioned (unsure how it came up) that Fred was basically dirt cheap and socking everything away. Said he will have no financial worries but was concerned about money quite a bit. Think it was after Fred mentioned he had to leave the bench for a fine and first thought was, well reggies fight will cost me 5k but if I don’t the team will turn on me; so he just realized it was necessary.

I'm pretty sure Fred still has the first nickel he made in the League. I remember that for the first few years during the offseason, he was a financial planner with Edward Jones in Ames. Seems like his first contract was in the $300k/yr range.
 
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ScottyP

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Chad 'OchoCinco' Johnson is actually a pretty fun follow on twitter and he is self proclaimed #TeamFrugal. His antics while in the league, made it seem like he could have been set up for a "BROKE" type scenario, but all things I've heard about him are he is sitting pretty on a pile of cash while driving around a SmartCar and eating McDonalds breakfast 3 times a week haha
I heard that he tried to live at the stadium to save money. Marvin Lewis had to talk him into getting his own place.
 
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usedcarguy

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NBA contracts and salaries are different than they were back then but I have heard that Loren Meyer blew through his NBA money and it wasn't spent on wise choices either. I did a search on Google that put his career earnings at $2.38 mil which is a drop in the bucket in today's NBA but as a 1st round pick (24th overall) his initial contract was on-par for what a late 1st rounder would get back then. I'm guessing there were a lot more players like Fred in the days that were smart and realized that not many make a long career in the NBA so save what you can upfront that might carry you over financially once your playing days are over.

IDK about that. Most at that age don't know a lot about money or have the capability of grasping what "long term" actually means. Living within one's means is one thing, but being frugal is another. I remember stories about Warrick Dunn staying on a buddy's couch during his first season, and guys like Steve Young, Barry Sanders, and Dunn driving used cars even when they could afford a lot more. Young would buy his teammates, hand-me-downs. Sanders eventually ended saving and investing enough to pay for college for all his nieces and nephews...like a dozen or of them.
 
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