John Stockton reportedly has a net worth of $45 million. Much is unknown about how Stockton makes his money outside of his previous NBA career, but he certainly has a good amount of it.
Related: John Stockton trashes today’s NBA players
Stockton recently appeared on The Maverick Approach podcast, and he explained the three reasons why NBA players often go broke after retirement.
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“Well, it doesn’t take much when the money is that big. You just don’t pay your taxes for one thing,” Stockton said. “Don’t pay your taxes one time and you’re making… what are these guys making, 50 million, 100 million?
“If you don’t pay your taxes one year, penalties and interest and all these things can eat that up in a heartbeat. So, number one, do that. Number two, you get married and get divorced. That cuts it in half.
“Number three, you buy things that don’t continue to have value. If you buy a bunch of cars, you buy a bunch of jewelry, whatever. So, I think guys a lot of times come from nothing.
“For the first time, they have this opportunity, so they want to take care of their mom, they want to take care of their brother, they want to take care of their buddies, they want to take care of everybody.
“Then maybe they think about those taxes and a couple of other things, and all of a sudden it jumps on you. And to repay those types of debts can’t happen. You can’t then go back to normal life when you’re not making the $50 million a year and paying those penalties.
“So, it could happen easier than you think. But it’s a good reason to have your head on your shoulders and pay attention.”
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This is an unfortunate situation that many former athletes find themselves in. It can be hard not to want to splurge on nice, expensive things. The key is to do it smartly.
That is something all athletes need to learn. This includes, as Stockton talked about, paying their taxes.
