How To Lose $110 Million: The Ultimate Cautionary Tale For Pro Athletes

This is sad. You may remember Antoine Walker for his haphazard shot selection and inimitable shimmy, but now, he’s known for something less glamorous: lots and lots of debt.

From the Boston Globe’s absorbing report:

During the last seven months, Walker has been pursued by multiple financial institutions for unpaid debts totaling more than $4 million. Court documents filed in Illinois and Florida reveal Walker was named a defendant in three recent debt-related civil cases, in addition to the ongoing check-kiting case. His former agent is also after him, citing a heap of unpaid fees.

Several National Basketball Association sources, among them friends and former teammates of Walker’s, said the 33-year-old player may well have squandered much of his $110 million-plus in career earnings. Without a team or contract as the new NBA season begins Tuesday, they’ve heard that Walker is casting about for cash to pay off his debts and is looking to catch on with a team, perhaps even overseas.

It’s an eye-popping story, but one that’s not as rare as you think. Athletes are given outlandish amounts of money at a very young age—it’s not crazy to think that many of them would struggle to manage their fortunes. It happens a lot.

SB Nation’s Celtics Blog has more thoughts, and perhaps the only silver lining in all of this is that Walker could one day be an example to other pro athletes: excess has its costs, and even for seemingly invincible athletes, it all catches up to you eventually.