Retired NBA player Antoine Walker (whose former fiancee Evelyn Lozada was accused of helping him go broke) appeared on the ESPN documentary series “30 For 30: Broke” recently where athletes reveal their financial struggles and how they lost their millions.
Antoine, who had a storied NBA career as a three-time all-star, opened up about how the real estate market, gambling debts, and frivolous spending wiped out his $110M fortune. He was forced him to declare bankruptcy in May 2010, two years after retiring from the NBA.
So what happened?
“Personally, I was involved in a lot of real estate projects with the banks where I was the personal guarantor of the loans. And when the recession hit back in 2007 and 2008, the banks went really hard after the money. There’s probably like 7 to eight banks that we had loans with. And it kind of hit me all at once. I had to pay back the money.”
He added, “You create a lifestyle for yourself. You’re spending a lot of money as you’re living through a 13-year NBA career.”
Backruptcy docs also revealed that Antoine’s gambling debts, getting robbed twice and spending $2M on friends also contributed to his $12.7M in debts and left him with $4.3M from his fortune.
