This should be a cautionary tale for all college and high school players in any sport who have the opportunity to go to the pros and make a substantial amount of money.
I sort of feel bad for Antoine Walker, but then again, I don’t. It wasn’t like he was blowing his money on anything significant. He was blowing his money trying to live the glamorous life, and it has cost him big time.
Without the NBA money flowing in, he is now in so much debt he might actually go to jail. Here is the latest from ESPN.com:
A judge on Monday ordered former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker to face trial on felony bad check charges that allege he failed to repay almost $1 million in gambling debts and penalties to three Las Vegas casinos.
The judge noted that Walker hadn’t made any progress repaying some $770,000 he owes on a promise last November to pay $905,050 in restitution, court fees and penalties. At the time, Walker forfeited toward that amount the $135,000 cash bail he posted following his arrest at a celebrity golf tournament last July in Lake Tahoe.
Andress-Tobiasson bound Walker over for trial in Clark County District Court on three criminal bad check charges that, combined, could get him probation or send him to prison for up to 12 years if he’s convicted.
I remember when MC Hammer was on Oprah talking about filing for bankruptcy and he said he was broke, but he was “rich people” broke.
I am thinking Walker is “poor people” broke.
You know that all the yes men and basketball wives have deserted him now. He has to deal with this situation pretty much alone. You know who your true friends are when things like this happen.
Once again, every young athlete should study this case closely — and when they are making the league minimum and they are at the Bentley dealership, they should think twice.
Because you don’t want to end up like this.