Former NBA star Antoine Walker accrued more than $100 million in career salary. However, he was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2021—two years after retiring from the league.
The Boston Celtics first drafted Walker in 1996. He would go on to play for the Dallas Mavericks, the Atlanta Hawks, the Miami Heat, the Minnesota Timberwolves and others.
On the “I Am Athlete” podcast, Walker explained what led to him squandering his amassed fortune.
“It’s a cultural thing, and I like to speak for myself. When I came out, Jay-Z, Puffy, all the rappers, what they did is what I wanted to do. You see them with the big jewelry, the chains, nice cars, you see the videos. I am looking at all that and thinking when I get it, I am doing that,” he shared.
“When I had a lot of money, I also had a lot of fetishes. I had a car fetish. I would have eight to 10 cars at one time. I had a watch fetish. When I came out, Jacob the jewelery was the man; everyone shopped with Jacob. I used to get all the new watches. I had 15 to 20 watches at one time, and I couldn’t wear them all.”
A recent study published by Boston College, MIT, Yale, and UCLA, 5% of all bankruptcies are down to frivolous spending. Personal bankruptcy rates are higher for males (52%) than for females (48%).
Walker also shared a painful story about a multi-million dollar home he purchased for his mother.
“I built my mom a house from the ground up. I spent $4.1 million on that crib, 15.000 square feet with the indoor pool; everything you can ever imagine was in the house. When you go through the bankruptcy, you have a decision to make. At the time, I owned four homes. I asked my mom what she wanted to do, and that was the first time I broke down was when she said let the house go,” he explained. “I couldn’t believe it, and that was the lowest point because that is something you never want to do. You never want to see your mom work again and see your mom go through anything of that nature, so that was probably the lowest point.”
Two years after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Walker bounced back. His net worth is now reported to be a respectable $1.5 million.
