After a 13-year career and over $110 million in salary, Antoine Walker has filed for bankruptcy after being hit with a $2.3 million foreclosure lawsuit on a mansion that he bought for his mother in Tinley Park, a small city south of Chicago.
Of course, many people saw this coming for a while. The Boston Globe ran a story in October of 2009 detailing how exactly he may have lost all his money.
“Off the court, there were the cars, the jewelry, the houses, the suits, the gambling. He liked to move in an outsized entourage; his mother estimates that, during his playing days, he was supporting 70 friends and family members in one way or another. And speaking of his mother, he built her a mansion in the Chicago suburbs, complete with an indoor pool, 10 bathrooms, and a full-size basketball court.”
And then this: “Walker turned the pavement surrounding his home into a virtual luxury car lot – two Bentleys, two Mercedes, a Range Rover, a Cadillac Escalade, a bright red Hummer. Often, the vehicles were tricked out with custom paint jobs, rims, and sound systems at considerable added expense. He also collected top-line watches – Rolexes and diamond-encrusted Cartiers.”
And this: “Then, there were the custom-tailored suits – closets full of them, including the set he ordered for his first playoff run in 2002, enough so he wouldn’t wear a suit more than once during the postseason run. When the Celtics officially hired Jim O’Brien as head coach in 2001, Walker had his tailor make three suits and presented them to O’Brien.
Oh yeah, and this: “When it came to his Celtics teammates, Walker took good care of them on the road. It wasn’t uncommon for Walker to hire limos to take out groups of teammates. And Walker always paid for the big dinner bills.”
Also from the Boston Globe piece:
Antoine Walker entered the NBA’s maximum-contract financial elite in 1999, the year Boston signed him to a six-year, $71 million deal. He was to be the talent and star-presence the Celtics would rebuild around, a big man with a smaller man’s ball-handling skills. And at 22, he would instantly be very rich, with a champion’s wallet even if not yet a champion’s game.
As Rick Pitino, then the Celtics president and coach, put it, Walker “will never have to worry about money again in his life.’’
From the AP story: “Mr. Walker, 33, lists liabilities of $12.74 million vs. assets of $4.28 million in the bankruptcy filing. Mr. Walker’s 2006 NBA championship ring, valued at $6,000, is listed among his assets, according to the Chapter 7 filing May 18 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Southern Florida.
The bankruptcy and foreclosure suit are the latest in a series of legal and financial woes for Mr. Walker, who reportedly earned more than $110 million during his 13-year NBA career, which included three trips to the All-Star game.
Mr. Walker owns four properties: a $2.34-million home in Miami; two South Side apartment buildings each worth $190,000, and the Tinley Park home, valued at $1.4 million, according to the bankruptcy filing.
Mr. Walker’s personal property includes two Range Rovers, a $20,000 designer watch and the NBA championship ring he won with the Miami Heat.”
It’s not the first time Antoine has been in financial trouble. He was busted in Las Vegas last year, accused of writing 10 bad checks for casino markers totaling $1 million. Late last year, a Las Vegas court deferred criminal charges and agreed to a payment plan for Mr. Walker.
If you look at lottery winners 5 years after they won a lot are broke. When you earn an obscene amount of money by hard work or lottery or luck it is imperative to learn money management skills. Real advisers with your best interest are needed rather than all the people and relatives who come out of the woodwork for support and with investment ideas. Sad indeed. Hope he enjoyed it while he had it. The likelihood is he will never have it again.