Antoine Walker charged with failing to repay gambling debts

[Mike-Dub]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4326187

Walker owes $822K in Vegas

Las Vegas prosecutors have filed a criminal complaint against Antoine Walker, claiming the former NBA star has not paid back $822,500 in gambling debts to three casinos, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

Walker, a three-time all-star who won an NBA title with the Miami Heat in 2006 and a national championship at Kentucky in 1996, has been charged with failing to pay back $1 million worth of markers at Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood and Red Rock Resort, according to the report. Under Nevada law, gambling debts are handled as bad check cases.

Chief deputy district attorney Bernie Zadrowski said he was asking a Las Vegas justice of the peace for an arrest warrant for Walker, 32. Zadrowski said Walker has paid back some of the debt, but still owes $822,500, in addition to $82,500 in fees to the DA's office, according to the report.

Jonathan Powell, an attorney for Walker in Las Vegas, declined to comment, according to the report.

[Redz]

Bring Back Toine!  He needs the money.

[KungPoweChicken]

Toine! I thought you stopped hanging out with Chuck?

[Fafnir]

I hope he gets this straightened out, and this isn't a sign of a serious gambling problem.

[Mike-Dub]

Bring Back Toine!  He needs the money.

Bring back Toine!? Ur joking right?

[indeedproceed]

So I guess now a vet minimum offer is out of the question?


Too soon?

[hwangjini_1]

I hope he gets this straightened out, and this isn't a sign of a serious gambling problem.

hmmmm... excuse me. but if this doesn't qualify as a sign of a serious gambling problem, what does?

poor toine. i hate to see something such as this happen.

[indeedproceed]

There are statistics that have an outrageous % of former NBA players going bankrupt 5 years out of the league. It is a big problem for these guys.

[hwangjini_1]

There are statistics that have an outrageous % of former NBA players going bankrupt 5 years out of the league. It is a big problem for these guys.

i had not heard about this. interesting.

do you have the source?

[indeedproceed]

There are statistics that have an outrageous % of former NBA players going bankrupt 5 years out of the league. It is a big problem for these guys.

i had not heard about this. interesting.

do you have the source?

I know this isn't much to go on, but it was one of newsweek, si.com or espn.

My gut says si.com. I will get back to you.

[lostjumper]

Today on the Dale and Holley show, they added up his contracts and said he has made 99 million dollars in his career(and thats not including advertising $$ and such). If toines already bouncing checks, he's in trouble. Hopefully he's out of Vegas at this point, becuase it will be hard to earn 800K with his legs broken...

[Mike-Dub]

Today on the Dale and Holley show, they added up his contracts and said he has made 99 million dollars in his career(and thats not including advertising $$ and such). If toines already bouncing checks, he's in trouble. Hopefully he's out of Vegas at this point, becuase it will be hard to earn 800K with his legs broken...

That's how I heard about the story for Dale and Holley... Props to them.

[indeedproceed]

There are statistics that have an outrageous % of former NBA players going bankrupt 5 years out of the league. It is a big problem for these guys.

i had not heard about this. interesting.

do you have the source?

I know this isn't much to go on, but it was one of newsweek, si.com or espn.

My gut says si.com. I will get back to you.

• Within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke.

[jdpapa3]

It's embarrassing. They try to keep up with other famous people/athlete's lifestyles with the latest cars/jewelry, make horrible investments, and give it to family and friends too generously.

Just put 5 mil in a savings account with 2.5% apr and you get 125k a year on just that, and that's without compounding the number. I don't feel bad for this guy at all.

[CDawg834]

There are statistics that have an outrageous % of former NBA players going bankrupt 5 years out of the league. It is a big problem for these guys.

It's not surprising...you have to remember that most NBA players come from backgrounds where a lot of the people around them have zero concept of fiscal responsibility.  It's the same story you see on the news, the poor slob that spends his whole paycheck on cigarettes and lotto wins the powerball jackpot, and 10 years later is completely broke again.  Just because these players hit the requivalent of a lottery jackpot doesn't mean they suddenly know how to handle their money. 

It's actually kinda sad, they fall into this habit of a life of luxury (and irresponsibility), and the hangers-on latch onto them looking for handouts.  They forget that this money needs to last them from age 35 and on when they are out of the league and next thing they know there is nothing left.

I recall a story where Joel Pryzbilla was trying to talk to Darius Miles about putting money in the NBA 401k...the league would match a portion towards retirement.  Joel basically told him "it's free money," and, as you can imagine, Miles couldn't be bothered to even listen.  Guess which player is gonna have financial problems in 10 years?