Shira Springer of the BOSTON GLOBE has the stunning story of Antoine Walker, who has apparently already blown $110M in career earnings, owing millions in unpaid pills and casino markers while possibly facing up to a decade or more of prison time.
(Summa Cum Laude in Tyson & Barkley School of Finance)
Springer’s piece opens with Walker getting cuffed in a Las Vegas casino over $1M in unpaid markers. We then find out that, “Walker has been pursued by multiple financial institutions for unpaid debts totaling more than $4 million. Court documents filed in Illinois and Florida reveal Walker was named a defendant in three recent debt-related civil cases, in addition to the ongoing check-kiting case. His former agent is also after him, citing a heap of unpaid fees [$450,000!].“
Bullets:
- Several National Basketball Association sources, among them friends and former teammates of Walker’s, said the 33-year-old player may well have squandered much of his $110 million-plus in career earnings.
- Walker faces a court hearing this Thursday in Las Vegas on three felony counts of drawing and passing checks without sufficient funds with intent to defraud. As of Friday, a representative for the Clark County district attorney’s office in Las Vegas said, Walker had made no move to pay up or otherwise settle the case. Each of the charges carries a possible one- to four-year prison term.
- 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.
- Walker once reportedly played $15,000 hands with Michael Jordan during an all-night gambling session where estimates of money lost and won totaled several hundred thousand dollars.
- “Antoine is doing great,’’ said Diane. “I have my home. He has his home. If he’s doing so bad, then how could we still be here?’’
- 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.
Walker’s mother denies that her son has money troubles or a gambling problem, saying “we’re still here, aren’t we?”
Right, tell that to the moms of Fernando Vargas and Rumeal Robinson.
We’ve heard of many athletes blowing their fortunes, and this ranks right up there with the biggest. $110M? The only athlete I can remember blowing that amount (and more) is Mike Tyson. Am I forgetting anyone?
12:21 pm on October 26th, 2009
But it was REALLY good while it lasted.
12:41 pm on October 26th, 2009
Spending a fortune and going $4 or 5 million in debt? Sounds like a small-scale Obama, without the jail part.
12:59 pm on October 26th, 2009
Latrell Sprewell. He can barely feed is family and had multipe foreclosures…
1:06 pm on October 26th, 2009
I thought of Sprewell, but I don’t think he blew money on this scale. This has to be a non-boxer record for sports figures. Truly remarkable.
Needs to be a movie!
1:35 pm on October 26th, 2009
That’s great! Love to hear those stories of rich, arrogant b#stards who blow all their money away while folks like me are living hand to mouth!
1:44 pm on October 26th, 2009
Well if you guys remember Antoine Walker was the main subject in the Sports illustrated issue on the sports dead beat dads issue,
That alone was 23% of his income.
This is so sad, seems like some one would tell this guy, you have ten years to make it and a lifetime to spend it.
Well that makes me like Elton Brand even more, he hasnt bought a home yet, and he drives a Saturn SUV…..when Antoine is begging every team in the NBA for a day job at 36 yrs old ( ala Scottie pippen) Eltons gonna be livin large for life, even with making far less cash during his career.
3:20 pm on October 26th, 2009
sweet!
3:23 pm on October 26th, 2009
Tyson didn’t blow it his money, it was stolen…and he had to throw fights against Douglas, Holyfield and Lewis to pay off debts that were in his name, but weren’t really his debts because people stole his money (Don King)…
4:19 pm on October 26th, 2009
“Spending a fortune and going $4 or 5 million in debt? Sounds like a small-scale Obama, without the jail part.”
Hey TLo…heard of the Iraq War? A trillion dollars of taxpayers money to do what? To fight them there so we don’t fight them here? And calculated by Pulitzer Prize winning economists to reach almost 4 trillion before we see the last of it. And I’m not including Afghanistan which could be seen as appropriate action to some degree after 9/11. But Iraq. Please.
Not to mention 4,351 US soldiers, young men, women, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters killed since 2003. But hey it was necessary right? Right…? I mean, hey, what’s 31,536 critically wounded Americans? I’m sure their life and the lives of their loved ones is doing just fine. I’m sorry to hear you haven’t been moved by one of these realities yet. I’m not here to argue that any one person is infallible but your enthusiasm for “the truth” would be better spent understanding the bigger pictures in life.
7:06 pm on October 26th, 2009
Thank God he has the Kentucky education to fall back on…….
4:15 am on October 27th, 2009
Walker may have lost his money, but he’s still got his shimmy-shake. Go ‘Toine. Brings back memorable line: When asked years ago by a newspaper reporter why he shoots so many 3’s, ‘Toine replied, “Because they don’t have any 4’s.”
4:29 am on October 27th, 2009
You Know Who-
By “blaming Bush” did you absolve Obama from the charge that he’s also spending a lot of money we don’t have? No. In fact you specifically avoided trying to defend Obama because you can’t.
10:27 am on October 27th, 2009
“I’m not here to argue that any one person is infallible”
You get the gist, right? Only one person can’t be wrong. There are many many indiscretions by many many people. Don’t attempt to sway blame if you’re not willing to bear your own. Now please pull your head out of your ass Taylor. Thanks!
12:10 pm on October 27th, 2009
You Know Who is just another liberal who does not see the big picture. We went in to Iraq because he violated UN resolutions. Even the Democrats thought he had WMD. Some times things are tough but tough people fight through it.
I could only imagine a world now with an Iraq-Iran nuclear arms race. Iran trying to build a bomb and Saddam needing to keep up with his arch enemy. If you think going to Iraq was a mistake then you clearly dont see what kind of world we live in.
Atleast Bush can make some tough decisions. Any war is tough but to lose under 5000 men when we would lose that in a day or week in previous wars? If we werent such a liberal country, we would take the gloves off and destroy these enemies and lose even less soldiers, but then we listen to liberals whine because of civilian casualties. You people make me sick.
Its amazing the short sitedness of people and if you cant see Obama is not doing what he needs to do while trying to make the gvt own the economy, then just keep following along like a troll while the country gets destroyed economically and those that actually work and achieve have to pay for the laziness that will be encouraged under Obama and his minions.
1:40 pm on October 28th, 2009
Well for the ones that are so anxious to go to war would you send your son, daughter, sister or brother? I think not and you’re probably one that has never served.
5:16 am on October 29th, 2009
I CANT BELIEVE WE ARE STILL IN THE SAME PLACE IN AMERICA AS WE WERE 70 YEARS AGO.KEEP EM’ FIGHTING AGAINST EACH OTHER SO THEY WONT NOTICE WHOS REALY BEING ATTACKED. FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOURSELVES!!!!!