As it stands in 2022, NBA players are making more money than they ever have. Evidence of that is the mega deals stars like Bradley Beal and Nikola Jokic signed this offseason worth over $500 million between the two of them. It wasn’t always like that. Players in the 50s and 60s had to get second jobs or retire early because basketball didn’t pay enough. Players in the 70s, 80s and 90s made a little more money but it is nothing compared to the contracts being handed out in 2022. For example, Michael Jordan made an estimated $94 million in his playing career. A player like Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins will make that in the 3rd year of his current contract. See the issue?
That is just one of the many reasons that so many former NBA players go bankrupt. In a 2009 report published by Sports Illustrated, it was estimated that 60% of NBA players will go broke within 5 years of retiring. That is a staggering percentage of former players. Bad contracts, off-the-court issues, or just bad financial decisions lie at the root of those numbers. This doesn’t make any of the players on our list today less valuable as basketball players and their place in NBA history is already cemented. It’s just they got a little too careless with their earnings.
Here are 20 NBA players that have gone bankrupt:
20. Ray Williams
Credit: Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images
Career Earnings: $2,500,000
Ray Williams spent 9 years in the NBA with 6 different franchises. He peaked as a 20.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG,…
