- Alex Acker became a professional basketball player when he was selected in the 2005 NBA draft.
- He said basketball helped him financially support relatives but that he struggled with overspending.
- To address the issue of athletes going bankrupt, Acker started an alternative investment fund.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 42-year-old Alex Acker, based in Como, Italy, about managing wealth as a professional athlete. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
My dad taught me the fundamentals of basketball when I was growing up.
I can remember playing the game with an orange instead of a basketball. That’s how poor we were. We’d have to shoot the orange and catch it before it hit the ground.
Basketball got me a college scholarship. I met some elite NBA athletes who came to my college one summer and played pickup ball with us. I held my own and they took my name over to the NBA. In the 2005 NBA draft, I was selected by the Detroit Pistons.
When I got my first check, I understood that I was a professional athlete and had to take it seriously. I was with the big boys and had to bring it every day.
I was never playing for the money. I loved the sport and knew money would come. But I wanted to serve my family. They were struggling, and I knew I could be a breadwinner.
Looking back, I can see I made mistakes when managing my finances early on in my career. Hearing the stats about athletes going broke pushed me take steps and improve things.
Basketball helped me to financially support my family
During college, I lived off the stipends that I received as a collegiate athlete, and some of my relatives would live with me in my apartment for months at a time.
I’d ask my coaches to help me make money on the side with a job, but they didn’t really understand how serious our situation was.
I was the youngest among my siblings, but once I got drafted, they all looked at me like I was the one in charge. They didn’t realize that my contract wasn’t guaranteed because I was a second-round pick, so I still had to work for a spot on the team.
I was able to get a contract with the team, but my family and I didn’t have the financial education to understand what would happen with the money. From the amount I was paid, taxes were deducted, and some was allocated to my pension plan. I wasn’t seeing the full amount that my relatives thought I was seeing.
During my first year with the Pistons, my family lived with me in a three-bedroom apartment in Detroit. Some people think athletes have a crazy spending limit, but I was a pretty normal individual with one car, paying rent and providing for my family.
I made mistakes with my money
I think a lot of athletes don’t understand they have the power to vet the individuals who handle their finances. Especially at an early age, athletes tend to just go with the flow and can get taken advantage of.
I remember thinking everyone around me had my best interests in mind and I allowed others to handle payments for things like watching my house and gardening without paying much attention to the details.
Initially, my family members could see all the details about what I was spending money on and how much I had. This negatively affected some relationships, and I wish I had told them I had it from here so they weren’t burdened by trying to advise me financially.
I also had some issues with friends. I had to check my circle and understand I couldn’t keep paying for everything when I was with them. I can’t throw all the blame on them for this. As Kevin Hart once pointed out, it’s lonely when you’re the only one who can afford the things you want to do. But I had to learn that I couldn’t keep up those spending behaviors.
I’ve taken steps to learn more about financial markets
I received a wake-up call when I heard statistics about athletes going broke, which said that 60% of NBA athletes and 78% of NFL players experience severe financial issues after leaving their leagues.
It spurred me to think harder about my wants versus my needs. I asked myself questions like, “Do I need to buy another car, or do I need 10 pairs of shoes?”
I made lifestyle changes. Instead of indulging in partying, I used my free time to educate myself about financial markets, learning how to ask the right questions and prepare for life’s uncertainties.
I retired from basketball in 2021. I wanted to do something about the problem of athletes going broke, so in 2024, I launched an alternative investment fund called Amongst Elite Capital for athletes, entertainers, and others, with two co-founders.
For athletes who are thinking of trying entrepreneurship after retirement, my advice is not to be scared of taking losses. I had to take small L’s to get to this point, and it all lined up to where I am today.
Do you have a unique story about wealth management that you’d like to share with Business Insider? Email the reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com
