Homeless NBA Player

[Gilligan]

Former NBA Player Joe Pace Goes From Glory to Homeless Shelter

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356470,00.html

A couple of things caught my eye in this story, one quote from Pace: “Sometimes I don't want to wake up, I'm so sad," he said. "Sometimes I wake up crying and say, 'What did I do to be like this?"'

This reminds me of the saying, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Then his case worker, Selina Daniels, says, “ You just can't take life for granted. We're all one paycheck from being homeless."

I think most of the members on this form are not in this boat. We are planning to succeed and get our financial life in order so we won't be homeless. I remember back in October of 1996 or 1997 when Clinton and the Republican Congress didn’t agree on the budget and we went for about a month or 6 weeks without a paycheck. This is a good reason to be debt free. If the paychecks ( or Direct Deposits) stop I will be able to keep my house because it paid for, I have zero personal debt, (I still have a couple of commercial properties that I’m paying on, but they are bringing in a positive/passive cash flow.)

This is a good story of why we need to have our financial houses in order. Pace was only making $35,000 a year, but that was 30 years ago. You could but a nice house for $35,000 back then. Like I said before, most of the members on this form are planning to succeed. It doesn’t matter what your GS level is, or how much money you earn. But it does matter how you spend your money and what you invest in, and manage those investments.

[Bullitt]

Good post Gilligan. It's amazing isn't it? Here this guy is telling us not to take life for granted while holding out a cup. I get a kick out the sob stories from these professional athletes who lost it all. I remember reading a few years back that Hollywood Henderson, football player for Dallas, won the lottery while he was on welfare. Charles Barkley is in financial trouble due to gambling, Jose Canseco just got his house repossessed, OJ Simpson was in financial trouble before the glove didn't fit.

I'm one of the biggest sports fans going and baseball has been of my life since the beginning, but when I see the greed and gluttony in sports it makes me cringe. Yes, these guys are extremely talented but to make the money they make, it's my opinion that they should be working on a cure to cancer in the offseason. We put these guys on such a pedestal and 75% of them are egotisitical jerks who will never realize how expendable they are until they are forced to face reality.

I don't know if the players are totally to blame or not. You've got these Agents who are like Hedge Funds who ravage the sports world with one thing in mind. "How much money can I make for myself?" You think these agents care about the athlete? As soon as they dry up, bring in the next piece of meat. Unfortunately, the problem now lies in contract negotiating. The big league clubs try to sign players for $35 million over 5-7 years because that way they can't up the ante after a good season. The agents however, want one year contracts so that once a player has a great season they can ask for a substantial amount more than the year prior. Sounds like a bunch of speculators bidding up things like Gold and Oil in the biggest casino on earth, the world stock market.

Then on top of it all, you've got these guys that go to college for the sole purpose of playing a sport and then don't get drafted or signed. What happens to them? Top of the world at Ohio State Football one day, waiting in the unemployment line the next. Yeah, you never hear about those guys.

A friend of mine was drafted 21st overall a few years back in the MLB draft. 21st overall!!! He signed a huge contract and is still playing today, but lucky for him, he was a pretty smart guy. He's managed his money good and hasn't fallen for the con artists that prey on professional athletes.

And no, I disagree with Mr. case worker. We are not one paycheck away from being homeless. At least, most of the folks on this board aren't.

There are three kinds of people in life.
1. Those that make things happen
2. Those that watch things happen
3. Those who wonder. What happened?

I know what kind of person I am.

[Fivetears]

Hey Little Buddy! Read the article. Pace spent just two seasons in the NBA in the late 70's; paid $35,000 each year. Impatient with his NBA progress...He took his game overseas for 12 years; Italy, Venezuela, Mexico, Panama, England, the Philippines and Argentina. He bought a Buenos Aires convenience store. He became homeless after injuries coupled with D&A abuse. After returning to the US, he continued abusing alcohol and drugs, sold his NBA championship ring for $1,000 to a Baltimore pawnshop, and started bouncing from city to city.

Had this guy been a "Chamberlain" figure, the NBA would have surely helped him. Seems to me, he sold out the NBA & US a long time ago. Perhaps when he decides to stop feeling sorry for himself, he'll put his life back together. He has all the tools, and the US is the place to do it. The D&A abuse has to go.

Good to read your post, Gilligan. Give your little blonde "Mary-Ann" a big hug. :D

[Rod]

There are three kinds of people in life.

1. Those that make things happen
2. Those that watch things happen
3. Those who wonder. What happened?



That's a keeper.

[Gilligan]

Hey Little Buddy! Read the article. Pace spent just two seasons in the NBA in the late 70's; paid $35,000 each year. Impatient with his NBA progress...He took his game overseas for 12 years; Italy, Venezuela, Mexico, Panama, England, the Philippines and Argentina. He bought a Buenos Aires convenience store. He became homeless after injuries coupled with D&A abuse. After returning to the US, he continued abusing alcohol and drugs, sold his NBA championship ring for $1,000 to a Baltimore pawnshop, and started bouncing from city to city.

Had this guy been a "Chamberlain" figure, the NBA would have surely helped him. Seems to me, he sold out the NBA & US a long time ago. Perhaps when he decides to stop feeling sorry for himself, he'll put his life back together. He has all the tools, and the US is the place to do it. The D&A abuse has to go.

Good to read your post, Gilligan. Give your little blonde "Mary-Ann" a big hug. :D

Pace had several chances for a great retirement, it boils down to the choices we make everyday. There are a lot of sports figures who manage their investments well: A-Rod has apartment complexes in Florida; Roger Stalback and Emmitt Smith are building a shopping mall in Phoenix, Nolan Ryan has his own bank, John Elway has several car dealerships and on and on.....

[Hallatauer]

You can have money and spend it or have money and create wealth. The choice is yours. :)

[luv2read]

You can have money and spend it or have money and create wealth. The choice is yours. :)
And wise investors manage to do both. What's the point of creating wealth...if you don't live to enjoy it?

[Fivetears]

and all of those sports heros... as American as you and apple pie, my friend. I agree. :)
Pace had several chances for a great retirement, it boils down to the choices we make everyday. There are a lot of sports figures who manage their investments well: A-Rod has apartment complexes in Florida; Roger Stalback and Emmitt Smith are building a shopping mall in Phoenix, Nolan Ryan has his own bank, John Elway has several car dealerships and on and on.....