Basketball glory, bankruptcy, & building back

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Welcome to Financial Freestyle. I’m Ross Mack, and this is sponsored by Vanguard.Welcome to Financial Freestyle here on Yahoo Finance, and I’m your host, Ross Mack. Look guys, no matter where you are on your financial journey, there’s always the first step you got to take. And guys, look no further because I’m talking to some of the most influential people in their fields, and today is no different, because I’m talking to the Antoine Walker, 3 time NBA All-Star, NBA champion, and a hometown Chicago legend. Tan, what’s up baby? How you living?

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I’m Living good, man. Thanks for having me on the show, man.

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Man, I, I, I would be remiss if I was not to say one, being a Chicago legend, you, you played a great part of my upbringing as a as a as a person that I always wanted to play basketball. And I’ll tell you right now, man, I used to come to some of your basketball camps as a kid, so I just want to tip my hat to you and salute you because you did a lot for the city, boss.

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Man, thanks, man. You’re making me feel like I’m super old, but yeah, when you say you attended my cats, but now, uh, that was my way of giving back, man, being able to be, be able to get some caps in the summertime, help some, cause a lot of people don’t know my mission when I first came in was uh was single parent mom. My mom was a single parent that raised 6 of us by ourselves, so I knew the struggles andAnd the things that she needed to do to try to find activities for her kids. So I wanted to open up that door and um I was able to do that for manyyears.

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When we talk about your basketball impact, right? Like it’s, it’s insane, but I will also commend you because a lot of the stuff you do off the, off the court is pretty remarkable and influential, right? I think.When it comes to your work and financial literacy, right? Like, let’s actually talk about that and what made you go and start getting more vocal about athletes needing financial literacy.

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Well, obviously, when I went through my financial hardship back in 2010, 2011, and I saw the mistakes that I actually made, um, it was just really from the lack of education. Um, you know, obviously I have financial advisors and they tried to guide me a certain way, but I come from very humble beginnings, so we didn’t have a lot of money. I didn’t know none none about um making money, taxes. No, that’s the that’s like one of the biggest things. I mean, how many people in their home talk about to their kids about taxes?And you know, when I realized that, you know, my first paycheck was 1.6 million, but I only saw like 800,000 of it. You know what I mean? So, you know, so it’s just like those type of things that I just didn’t know about, I had to learn and you learn to fly. I went pro at 19 years old, which obviously now we got guys that go pro 1819.Commonly, but back then that was a rarity to go pro at 1819 years old. So I never had money and, and so I, I had to learn on the fly. So just going through that process, I know how these young guys are thinking. I know they’re not thinking about 40, 45, they’re not thinking about um you know, financial well.At 50 years old, they’re getting that money right now and they’re, they’re, they’re attacking and they’re spending a lot. So you just try to, I think it’s my job to kind of use the, my negative story. I wouldn’t say negative, but the things that I did wrong and just kind of like help them out because I know the things that they wanna do. I know the things that they’re buying. I know the things.Is that they’re overlooking. So I try to put that back in their face and understand that this basketball career or any sports career is gonna be short-lived. And you got a whole life to live after your career is over with. So, I just wanna try to get them in their head and it’s tough sometimes when you’re talking to an 18 or 19 year old to let them know about thinking about 40.They, they don’t wanna think about that. They’re living in now, so I try to get that in their head and think about generational wealth. They’re gonna eventually have kids and they don’t have kids already and making sure their kids are well taken care of. So it’s a process, um, and my job and I just felt like it’s my job to help educate those guys on those, those type of things.Yeah,

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when you lookat some of the statistics, it’s pretty staggering, right? Where you know, within 5 years of retiring from the NBA, you know, roughly 60% of NBA players end up experiencing some type of financial hardship. And I want to say in the NFL it’s closer to like 70%, right? And so when you think about that, and especially now where you see younger athletes getting bigger checks, and it’sI always preface this by saying like, it’s not a, you know how much money you make problem, it’s actually a spending problem because it’s not just athletes, right? Like I want to say over 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. And if you look like, oh, it’s just athletes, well, no, I’d say it’s a lack of overall financial knowledge that our entire society has. And you know I want to say, when you look atJust a normal person that could win the lottery. Over 70% of them also end up going broken. So what do you think is, you know, the the missing link that either should be taught in school or the psychology of money and more importantly, you know, what have you learned by going through it that you’re now helping other players learn now?

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I think first and foremost, we gotta understand taxes, the tax bracket that you’re in. So I think, you know, a lot of guys, and people don’t understand, cause you see a guy making a million dollars, it’s not a million dollars, dollars. You know, you, now you’re going to a different tax bracket, so that’s $600,000. So that’s, that’s the first and foremost. We gotta get into the tax part of it first. I think we have to understand that part. And then I think the biggest thing is that it’s the lifestyle that you create.I think we have to start teaching our kids about their lifestyle cause when you’re making money and everything is going good, you’re buying cars, you got houses, you got jewelry, you got all these things going on. But at some point, the money is gonna stop coming in the way, when it came in the beginning. And are you able and are you prepared to maintain that lifestyle?And I think that’s something that we have to teach our youth so they understand, um, that gets overlooked. So you can have all these nice things, and it looks great while you’re on this run. It may be an 1810 year run, it may be a 15 year run, um, but you have to be ready to withstand that storm. I mean, and sometimes we, we can make bad investments. Some things that we invest in the stock market goes up and down, but we can make bad investments. I even look at my situation.To how forced me into bankruptcy. I was happy in the real estate game. But I also went to a recession in 2008. A lot of people don’t understand that. It was a recession.And I got caught in it. So you have to be prepared for those type of things that happen. And I think that’s what we have to educate our youth and not everybody about finances. So it’s kind of like in you, I’m pretty sure you use this a lot in your world, that emergency fund, you know, our, our people are actually putting up and putting money into an emergency fund just in case you need it.Um, so all those things play a part in it, but I really, I think the one thing that sticks out to me is that we have to understand taxes first and then everything after that can kinda fall in line.

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No, that’s real.I, um, you know, a million dollars is not a million dollars after you take taxes out, and then obviously in your world, you get different fees for agents and all that other stuff. But let’s actually talk about that that investment part because that’s really important that, you know, experiencing that, that 2007, 2008 crisis, right?How had that impacted you moving forward, right? Because there obviously would probably be some type of trauma there. However, I tell people all the time, right? You can’t necessarily allow one bad experience to kind of dictate how you are with money moving forward. And I say it all the time, like, you can’t save your way to wealth. Obviously, you got to invest your money. So experiencing that kind of, what is your view on real estatenow?

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I think it’s I think you’re educating yourself. Um, I think for me, um, I kind of put my wealth in somebody else’s hands and that’s the um in the real estate game and as well as the stock market. I mean, if I’m gonna put my money in the stock market, sit down and teach me about the market. Teach me about the highs and lows. Teach me that the market is gonna go.Up and down. Um, I think that’s the thing a lot of guys do too, especially as athletes. We put our trust in somebody else all the time with our money. And there’s nothing wrong with that when you got paid professionals and people that know about investing. But on the process, teach me.Take me through the process, teach me why we invest in this stock. Teach me why we put money right there. I think we, we keep ourselves so uneducated, so when we do get a rough patch, we think somebody’s stealing from us, we think somebody’s taken from us because we don’t, we’re not educated.So you have to educate yourself in the process of going through this. So, if you’re hiring a financial advisor or dealing with somebody, walk me through this. Let me know why we’re putting $50,000 over here. Let me know why we’re putting 100,000 right here. You know what I mean? And when the market goes bad, break it down to me.So I don’t feel like you stole money or I did something wrong. Like, break, help me understand all these things. And I think that’s something that a lot of guys as athletes, we don’t do. We trust in these financial advisor and, and I’m not saying that they’re all bad, but walk me through the process, teach me on how things go. I think that’s how things can get better for a lot of guys.

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That’s powerful. That’s powerful, right? Don’t just give me a fish, teach me a fish, right? That way I could, you know, feed myself for a lifetime a great saying. But look, we’re gonna take a quick break and when we come back, we’re gonna have more with the Antoine Walker.All right, welcome back to Financial Freestyle here on Yahoo Finance. And look guys, we’re talking to the Antoine Walker, and it’s remarkable conversation because we’re talking about, you know, how a person who at the height of his game was one of the best to ever do it, and now you’re still being and walking in your purpose off the court. And so I really want to know, right, just let the people know what you’re working on now.

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Well, right now I’m, um, I started a project and people see it cause I’ve teased it a bunch over my social media, um, but I still got the documentary that’s gonna come out going in an instant. Um, I’m still working on that, finishing up a few more interviews, gonna, and, and put, still be able to put that out, um, and that’s gonna be an educational tool, as well as just sharing my life story. So I’m looking forward to um putting that out. Also, right now I’m um working.The Celtics for the last 3.5 years, uh, in the front office doing stuff in the community, um, still being able to be around the guys in the basketball team and everything. So, hopefully, we got a new ownership group coming into Boston and hopefully, um, I could be a part of that and get to know those guys and continue working with them.

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You know what I love about you is that you are open with your story and like you say, it inspires other people becauseQuite so often, people suffered financially and money is such a taboo topic that the average person doesn’t want to talk about it. Right? When we really look at statistics, when I say over 60% of people live paycheck to paycheck, right? And it’s not just a function of how, how much money you make, right? Because, you know,Almost a quarter of people that make over 6 figures are also living paycheck to paycheck, right? You know, you know, over 60% of people don’t have $1000 saved, but I love you the story because you’re open about it and inspiring other people. And so like when you really think about what you’ve doneFinancially, what advice do you have to someone that’s starting over, right? Because obviously, you know what was it like in 2010, 2011, you filed bankruptcy, but now you’re starting up, well, you started over then and obviously you’re back, you know, successful. So what advice would you give to someone that’sstarting over?

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I would say first and foremost, you have to learn from your mistakes. You, you have to learn from your mistakes. So the things that you do wrong, you can’t duplicate those. You can’t think you can do it over again because you got wealth coming in. Um, I think a lot of times, especially wealthy people, we don’t have the word knowing our vocabulary.We see, we seem to help a lot of people. So, unfortunately, there’s nothing wrong with helping a lot of people and doing a lot of great things for the family, but you have to get the word know in your vocabulary. Um, if you wanna be successful financially down the line, you gotta be, you know, stubborn, you have to be, you know, kind of to a point where you have to actually build not only for your, your kids, your kids’ kids.And I think that’s sometimes what we don’t understand generational wealth. So I think that’s the thing that, you know, that kind of really sticks out of my mind, um, especially having wealth so early and coming into the league at 19 and signing the max contract at $71 million at 21 years old. Um, the money came so fast without the education.So you have to stop and educate yourself and I think well, especially for regular people, I think we have to understand, start realizing what taxes are first and foremost. Obviously, we have to start realizing what, what kind of lifestyle do you wanna live? Are you making enough money to maintain that lifestyle? Or can you maintain that lifestyle? I think we pre-spend a lot, you know, especially black people, we, we, we pre-spend.We, we, we buy shit, we buy things, we buy materialistic things, and we don’t know how we’re gonna maintain it. We don’t know how we’re gonna keep it. We just do it because we got the money at that moment. But we have to start building for the future generational wealth. We don’t think about it, sometimes we rich at 22 years old, from these athletes, they don’t have any kids. But about 34 years into the league, you may have had 2 kids. So did you factor in your kids into your financial situation? Did you make, are you making sure that they’re gonna be taken care of? It’s just a lot of things thatWe have to educate ourselves on and we don’t do it. And the last thing I would say is, no matter how much money you make,You’re never too busy to take care of your own finances. Now, you may not have all the answers you’re gonna need help, but we have to stop relying on other people. We have to stop being uneducated when we’re the ones out there making our money in this livelihood. I think that’s what happens a lot. We rely on so many other people to take care of our financial.situation without us sitting down and understanding everything and where every dollar is going. Um, that’s one thing I would tell any athlete or anybody that’s making a lot of money. Take the time, take a few hours out your day to know where your money is going, how you’re spending it. Don’t rely on somebody else to do that for you.

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I love that, bro. Them, them real gems, right? And you talk about the spending habits, right, quite often.People are buying stuff they can’t afford with money that they don’t have to impress people they don’t even like. So you were just giving gems, man. I, uh.Bro, that’s it’s real, right? And when you look at social media, everybody’s trying to look rich as a facade, but the reality is, right, when you were, you got to get educated on it and you know, the, the, the most important step when it comes to becoming wealthy is first things first, you got to control your inflows and outflows. You got to budget. You got to know where that money is going, and then you start investing, right? And then you figuring out how to get out of debt and all that. So, one, I loved it, right? And so when weback, you know, you talked about a few of the things you’re working on, right? Obviously NBPA, a lot of financial literacy, but you also talked about TV and I will say you’ve been going real viral lately on social media, man, and one of your hot takes was talking about when a young Bron came to one of them to one of y’all’s sessions and Jordan was downhere.Let me understand, right, and, and obviously that, that take went viral, but I, I got another take, right? A lot of people talk about who was the most feared and you got the opportunity to play with Shaq and obviously you got the opportunity to play with and against Jordan with I’m talking about in the pickups. Who was

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more

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feared?

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Was it

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Jordan or

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Shaq?Um, I would say Jordan, uh, for me, um, I played, I think the Laker Shaq was more feared. Um, I played with the Miami Shaq, which was great and he was terrific, um, but we, we were kind of led by young D Wade.Um, you know, so D Wade was kind of the, the one A and Shaq was one B. Um, but Michael was different, you know what I mean, as far as most fear. You know, I, I got an opportunity to go against Michael in ’96, 97, 98 when he won the three titles. I had just got drafted. I was 111 against Mike.In his first in my 1st 3 years against him when I was with the Celtics, 1 in 11, that’s how dominant he was.That’s no serious. That’s how dominant he was. He won 11, um, and they won 3 championships. You gotta think I was a kid from Chicago. I went from cheering for the Bulls, the 1st 3 championships and now going against them and when they won the second I mean the 3 championships. So this is one of those type of situations, but Mike was the most fear. And then to be able to work out with him to come back and spend.You know, 4 or 5 days a week for 2 years, every, every day watching this, how this guy works in the summertime to get prepared at age 38, 39, 40 years old, was something that I always remember for the rest of my life. It’s something that keeps me motivated, especially as being an athlete to watch Michael be able to come back out of retirement and do it and play at a super high level and watch the work that he put in. Um, I just got the most respect for that guy. Um, I know we always get into that Kobe and LeBron.The debate and I love LeBron, but Michael’s my goat. I will always be, um, because not only did I, how the how he played, I got to witness it firsthand and be on a daily, on a daily basis for a couple of years. So my, my, the way I feel is a little different.

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No, I, I, you ain’t gonna get no argument out of me, man. The Chicago wanting me to be able to witness Jordan at that age as a youngster, but I’m like, bro, he’s different, right? And so it’s, it’s amazing to see the longevity of Brown, but Jordan a different animal. But I actually got a question now, right, because you brought up D Wade, so I gotta put you on the spot.What’s your,

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what’s

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your

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starting

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5

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for Chicago born

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players?

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Uh, I got, I got Isaiah Thomas at the point.Um,Derrick RoseAnd the other guardYeah, I’m going with a 3 guard offense, then I got D Wade.Um, then you know I gotta be a little biased man, you know, I gotta put myself in there.Yeah, and then I got Martha, then I got Martha Guy.Oh I got Mara.Mark. Mark, listen, Mark Awaa doesn’t get the love that he’s supposed to get, um.This guy first pick in the draft.Two-time NBA champion.Unbelievable score.And it’s the first pick in the draft, bro. That’s like it’s so huge. I don’t understand. It’s crazy that he’s not in the Hall of Fame. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know who he pissed off or what he did, but Mark doesn’t get it. Yeah, he doesn’t get enough credit for what he was, and I just think, you know.And I just didn’t think in Chicago, obviously, like I said, I’m not Ben. I, I mean, I think it’s great forwards. I think myself, I put myself first, but I like, you know, people like Ben Wilson from back in the day. Obviously, a lot of us didn’t get a chance to see Ben play. You got Juwan Howard, um, who doesn’t get enough.Credit, one of the great players from Chicago. So that’s some great forwards out there, but I think those 3 guards with the, with the honorable mention, I know you only asked me for 5, with Tim Hardaway kind of lingering in there. You got that Isaiah Thomas, right, you got Isaiah Thomas, D Wade, Derrick Rose to me. Then you got Tim Hardaway. So you got like, those 4 guys are likeChicago, but they are guards, you know what I mean?Yeah, those

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4

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guys kind of stick out to me.

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The, so one, I 100% agree with your list, right? The only, so I was going and it was crazy because when I said Chicago born, it’s kind of hard to say where KG is from, but we, we know him for going to high school here, so you don’t put him in there. But I would have had, the only difference, the only difference I might have, and I, and this is this precede me so I don’t know Aguire, I would have probably put AD at the AD at the 5, you at the 4.And then I would have did D Wade, D Rose, and Isaiah Thomas. Uh,

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and

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then coming

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off the bench.That’s the thing though. We got a second team, a deficit. I mean, that’s when you get, that’s when you start. That’s what ADs, the Juan Howard, yeah, the, uh, I’m gonna put Finley, yeah, first saying the Mike Finley’s, you know what I’m saying. Now we start to get that that list gets a little different and you know what’s crazy is too.It’s, I think it’s two lists, and the people don’t say that, cause we got a lot of guys that just never panned out so you know that, that didn’t pan out that are great basketball players that we know them, and we bump into them, we like, we get, he get, they get the respect from us, but they’re not gonna get the national respect too. So that’s a lesson a little tricky about Chicago. Chicago is one of those cities, I think New York is one of those cities and maybe like LA, California. Well, we got so many great players. We got street ball legends.Guys that should have made it, guys that had short careers, but their basketball skill level was super good, super high, you know what I mean?

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Like Paul just wanna know.

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Right, you know, Marcus Liberty though, you know, Jamie Brandon, you know what I mean, we got so many guys that didn’t they career, they got that, uh, you know, you used to get to school incomplete. That’s a fact. You get, yeah, you just get an incomplete. We got, we got a few incompletes on our team.Well, man,

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listen,this has been an amazing episode. Tan, I just wanna thank you for coming on here, man. We’re doing some stuff this summer. Uh, you’re gonna be speaking at the Macronomics Wealth Summit. Uh, you’re gonna be proud of the coach and 1.Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we’re gonna have a ball, man. I just really want to say thanks for coming on here. That’s it for this episode of Financial Freestyle here on Yahoo Finance. Make sure you guys tune in every Monday and make sure you like and subscribe.

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This content was not intended to be financial advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional financial services.