Thursday, February 23, 2012

How Allen Iverson lost his money and Magic Johnson to Launch 24-hour Channel with ‘Uplifting Images of African Americans

Last week I was astonished (well maybe not astonished) to learn about Allen Iverson's financial woes. Apparently, AI has squandered his loot and we are talking about a major grip - conservatively, about atleast 154 million dollars in NBA salary alone (not counting his endorsements).

How do you blow up to maybe 200 million dollars in a mere decade? How many cribs did he own? Did he own a fleet of cars? Did his investments go belly up? Knowing that Bubba Chuck likes the casinos, did he gamble away tens of millions dollars playing cards?

Well apparently AI lost the lion's share of his loot because he hates luggage. WTF?


Finally, it’s all starting to make sense. While it doesn’t necessarily surprise us to hear that someone like Allen Iverson blew more than $200 million in career earnings, it does raise a certain amount of curiosity. How did he pull it off? Did he take the Siberian Tiger approach to bankruptcy like Mike Tyson? Did he buy too many cars or houses? The details have started to emerge, and we have a solid starting point.
According to Forbes Magazine, Iverson did not like taking luggage with him on road trips. Since the only way to avoid traveling with suitcases is to buy new clothes everywhere you go, that’s exactly what A.I. did.

Perhaps the telltale indicator of Iverson’s divorce from financial reality, however, was an anecdote I received via a former teammate of Iverson’s from his days with the Philadelphia 76ers. This player, raised on a far higher standard of fiduciary responsibility, was amused and stunned by “A.I.’s” money habits. He related how on many road trips Iverson refused to carry baggage, evidently seeking to remain as unencumbered from physical things as he was of basketball defenders. Because of this habit, Iverson would buy a full selection of new clothes, shoes, and other expensive items at each new destination with rolls of cash he carried on his person. Moreover, upon departure, he would leave all those goodies behind in his hotel room or just give them away. source

I-G-N-O-R-A-N-C-E   

My financial advise to professional sports super-stars is to give Magic Johnson a call. Mr Johnson knows how to solidly make investments. Magic's financial management: make his money his work for him; budget; stay out of debt; save; and invest in the overlooked black community. For example:


Magic Johnson is preparing to launch Aspire, a 24-hour channel with a focus on what Johnson called positive, uplifting images of African Americans. Initially the channel will be available in 11 million of Comcast Cable customers’ homes, the LA Times reports.
“This is so exciting for me, I’m pinching myself,” Johnson told the LA Times. “This is big for myself, for the African American community and the African American creative community. I wanted a vehicle to show positive images and to have stories written, produced and directed by African Americans for our community. Aspire — that’s how I’ve been leading my life.”  source

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