It is known that many famous athletes did not manage to cope, in the first place, with themselves and the memory of a poor childhood in the moments when they reach fame and prestige, that is, when they succeed in their careers. Many ‘lose their heads‘ in the moments when they get a large amount of money, and one such story, but with a happy ending, is the one about Antoine Walker, a former NBA ace and ace of the Boston Celtics.
The sixth pick from the famous draft in 1996 was a player ahead of his time. One can also say that he was one of the pioneers of basketball that has been played in recent years. The guy who, playing on the ‘position 4’, led the NBA in the number of attempts behind the three-point line in two consecutive seasons at the beginning of the new millennium. In the first of the mentioned seasons, he had the best performance in terms of the number of three-point field goals made. At that moment, ‘snipers’ like Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Peja Stojakovic, etc, were ruling the league… For instance, Walker made 70 three-pointers more than Dirk Nowitzki, a man who is synonymous with a top shooter, not just for a tall top shooter.
A Bit About His Play
Antoine Walker, whose play would be really useful in NBA basketball nowadays, said a few months ago that he would earn $ 300 million in today’s NBA. Maybe he would, but whether he would save some of that money or not remains a big question. A member of one of the best draft generations ever, a guy who was picked before Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Stojakovic… Walker can be put in the group of those players who bring their fans to the purest ecstasy, but also make them incredibly crazy. Very talented player but, at the same time, probably irrationally self-confident.
He left the best impression and spent his best years in Boston, as ‘Employee Number 8’, according to the famous Adidas advertisement. He was the key player of the Celtics and someone who handed over the torch to the man who would later become an icon of the ‘greens’, Paul Pierce. In the best season of his career, the one that restored hope to Celtic fans, Walker scored almost 23 points and had 9 rebounds and 6 assists on average. As a member of Boston, he managed to make as many as three appearances in the All-Star Game. He played 13 NBA seasons and, in his career, Walker earned exactly $ 108,142,015 from NBA salaries and who knows how much more of the various sponsorship agreements. He managed to squander everything, and here is how.
He Was a Financial Advisor to Himself…
It is well-known that African-Americans have long grown up in the United States in much more difficult conditions than the average people, mostly in more dangerous areas where there is not a huge percentage of those who manage to escape crime after their teenage years. The code of conduct is generally known – if one from the neighborhood succeeds, everyone succeeds. It is essentially the same today.
By his own admission, Walker moved about with at least 8-10 other people in the company throughout his career. He wanted his friends to feel the same luxury and the same way of life as him. At no point did he separate himself from his crew. Whether it is travel – Hawaii, Maldives, Las Vegas – or breathtakingly expensive jewelry, exotic cars like Mercedes, Bentley, Maybach… It is no wonder that as many as 60 % of NBA players go bankrupt at the end of their careers. Guys who come from similar backgrounds just do not do very well with money.
Walker’s weekend in Las Vegas where he had fun, among other places, in casinos (some of the best online casinos with deposit bonuses are to be found by the link) with the crew did not end without spending less than half a million dollars. It is important to know that Antoine really is not a bad guy, not a single teammate ever said an ugly word about him. He was one of those who contributed to the atmosphere in the locker room. He managed to get a huge part of the rookie contract paid in advance, something that was a very rare case, and from the same money he bought a house for his mother. He paid a financial advisor, but he refused to listen to his advice. As he himself says, he was young, arrogant, and he thought he knew best, and at that moment he certainly did not think that all that money could disappear.
Walker’s contract with the Celts brought him $ 71 million in six seasons, which was the most lucrative deal in the history of the Boston Celtics at that time. Let’s put things in perspective – Antoine signed the contract in 1999, and the team budget for the 1999/00 season was $ 34 million. The budget for the ongoing season is 138.9 million ‘greenbacks’, or four times more. Antoine did not experience the greatest team success with the Celtics but as a ‘trailer’ for Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal in the Miami Heat when he reached the only championship ring.
Walker was traded to Dallas in the summer of 2003. Already the following season, he wore the Atlanta jersey but on the last day of trades in 2005, he returned to Boston. Unfortunately for him, the jersey with number eight was taken by Al Jefferson in the meantime, and in the first two matches, Walker wore the jersey with number 88. On the way to Boston from a two-match tour, Jefferson decided to return number eight to the former team captain. Officially, young Al only wanted Walker to take him under his tutorship, he wanted a mentor. However, the question arises why he waited for two matches. Unofficially, Walker cashed in a six-figure amount to get his number back.
He Invented the Famous Dance
It is not so known that Walker may have been the father of “wiggle” dance in the NBA. This story comes from a not-so-reliable source, but it is too good not to be true. The year is 2006 and the Miami Heat are the NBA champions. Of course, a few days later, the players of the team from Florida continued to celebrate their success. The scene is as follows: famous strip bar in Miami, several players are having a party but the atmosphere is not so best or let’s call it – dead. Udonis Haslem sits completely alone using the phone. Gary Peyton, accompanied by a few ladies, loudly irritates most of those present. Several other team members plan to leave the bar… But then, Antoine Walker enters the club, dressed in an unreal peach suit, with fancy glasses (although it is 11 in the evening), with a young lady under his arm with whom not even all the ladies together from the bar could measure in appearance.
Seeing the situation, Antoine somehow managed to reach the microphone, and then the show started. He was walking around the club, going from person to person, throwing gags, and raising the atmosphere. Things were boiling up, so much money was flying in all directions that the girls who worked in the club danced even for people who are not part of the team. Some time has passed and Walker decides to take the next step and organize a competition asking if anyone remembered his four-point shot against Dallas. The girls looked at him confused. To clarify, Walker drew foul on 3-point made in the final series, found himself on the floor, and then did the famous wiggle dance. Given nobody remembered, Walker climbed on the demonstration stage. Now, imagine a scene where about 20 pretty girls are learning this dance. Walker shouted “No” and told them they had to do it on the floor.
After a few minutes of excitement, the enthusiasm vanished. As more and more girls gave up, he decided to raise the stakes, offering $ 10,000 to whoever best imitated his wiggle. At the same second, all the girls from the club found themselves on the floor. Seeing what he had done and how there would be no chance of deciding the winner, Walker took all the money he had in his pockets and threw it up. It was an amazing sight. Anthony reportedly said that over 100,000 greenbacks were spent that night but added that they should not worry because that is not even his playoff bonus. Those present, who also told this story, say that the general impression was that at least a million dollars were on the floor.
How Did the Financial Collapse Come About?
Walker experienced a financial collapse in 2007, in the great crisis that affected the whole world. He invested a huge part of his capital in real estate, and the crisis hit him so hard that he lost almost 90 % of his investment. Shortly afterward, he publicly declared bankruptcy. Contrary to logical thinking, this is far from his biggest problem.
Problems with the law started in 2009 when he was arrested for driving under the influence, but 2010 was perhaps the most difficult of his life. He was then accused by three different casinos in Vegas of using invalid checks to pay off debts of nearly $ 800,000. Although he initially pleaded not guilty, a year later he pleaded guilty to one of three charges with an agreement that there would be no prison sentence. He was released on parole and had to pay his debt.
When he filed for bankruptcy again in 2010, Walker’s debt was $ 12.7 million. Although he owned real estate worth $ 4.3 million, it was not even close enough to pay off debts. In the process of repaying the debts, Walker had to sell the championship ring won in 2006. He was so penniless that his teammate from Kentucky and also an NBA player, Nazr Mohammed, paid for the bankruptcy lawyer.
However, Walker’s story has a somewhat happy ending as he managed to consolidate with a few smart business moves, such as making a movie (Gone In an Instant) and writing a book, pay off his debts, and announce the same in August 2013. After everything he has been through, Walker wants to help the current NBA players and show them how not to do things so as not to follow in his footsteps. He is currently working as a commentator on the ESPN SEC Network, which covers exactly the college basketball conference in which Walker once performed.