‘Your lawyer, your financial advisor and your agent should not know one another’: Giannis Antetokounmpo reveals why athletes get burned financially

Antetokounmpo, 31, is entering the back half of his career that has already produced a whopping $338 million in NBA salary alone, per Spotrac. His five-year, $228 million supermax contract extension with the Bucks in 2020 was the largest deal in NBA history.

Why pro athletes go broke

Antetokounmpo offered insight when asked why pro athletes so often lose their fortunes.

“They focus on the chains,” he said. “They focus on the cars. Rich is what you see. Wealth is what you don’t see. Extreme wealth is what you don’t see, you haven’t spent and kept investing.”

Antetokounmpo’s warning about advisors with overlapping interests has been echoed in countless cautionary tales from his peers. Charles Banks IV, the longtime financial advisor for San Antonio Spurs Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2017 and was sentenced to four years in federal prison and $7.5 million in restitution after Duncan alleged over $20 million in losses on ventures in which Banks held undisclosed stakes.

Similarly, 19-time NBA All-Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sued his business manager for tens of millions in the 1980s after the manager took power of attorney and wrapped him up in undisclosed deals. In 2018, the Department of Justice sentenced Peggy Ann Fulford to 10 years in federal prison and nearly $5.8 million in restitution for defrauding clients, including Dennis Rodman and NFL star Ricky Williams.

A challenge from Kobe Bryant

Antetokounmpo, drafted 15th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, said he became a millionaire at 20. His rookie contract was a four-year, $8.6 million deal that had him earning roughly $2 million a year by his second season. He told The School of Hard Knocks his highest single-season haul was $120 million.

When asked how he found the drive to win back-to-back MVPs in 2019 and 2020, Antetokounmpo pointed to Kobe Bryant.

“I had the conversation with Kobe once. I said, ‘Kobe, give me a challenge,’ and he said, ‘Giannis, your challenge: win MVP.’ And then I used to carry around this jug of water, and in the cap I used to write ‘MVP.’ I see it every day. And the next year I won MVP, and the next year I won another MVP.”

The two had the exchange on Twitter in August 2017.

“Speak things into existence,” Antetokounmpo said. “Because your brain listens to you, and once your brain listens to you, it does everything it needs to do to make that happen.”