Some sportsmen get into nasty fights on the field, even after a career of success and sportsmanship. It’s always sad to see that repeated later in life as some of them saddle themselves with debts that they can’t pay back.
Fighting your way through the courts after getting into financial difficulty is never a nice way to end a career spent in the public-eye.
1. Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan does have some trouble admitting to debts, though is honest about it now. Under oath he admitted that a $57,000 check was for gambling debts, not a business loan as first suggested.
He also lost almost $1m in a game of golf, but ended up paying only $200,000. As recently as 2006 Michael Jordan helped share the financial burden of the Charlotte Bobcats, investing in the club. He has also had to pay his ex-wife an estimated $168 million in a divorce settlement.
2. Michael Vick
Michal Vick is in jail due to a conviction for dog fighting at his $750,000 home. After gambling on the dogs fights, he’ll have trouble making his way back into the NFL, a sport that doesn’t look kindly on illegal betting. Vick was once the highest player in the National Football League. Soon after being sentenced to 23 months in June 2008 he filed for bankruptcy with debts of $50m dollars.
3. Jose Canseco
Disgraced baseballer Jose Canseco, simply abandoned his $2.8 million pad: he just walked away and let the bank take it. He said it wouldn’t make financial sense to continue paying on a mortgage that was essentially owned by someone else. He was one of the first celebrities to admit being affected by the housing crisis. His home was recently foreclosed.
4. Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is another celebrity struggling to help up with payments, having apparently missed two child support payments. His $10m mansion is currently in foreclosure and he is being sued for not paying back a $550,000 loan. He intends to climb back into the boxing ring to get back on track.
5. Latrell Sprewell
Another NBA start in trouble is Latrell Sprewell who is now struggling to pay a $30,000 a year mortgage. In the past he was earning $15 million a year. He now faces foreclosure on his $400,000 home in Milwaukee. He has sold his yacht after failing to keep up with repayments. In the 2004-5 season he turned down a three-year, $21 million contract.
6. Charles Barkley
Basketball great and TNT analyst Charles Barkley admitted this year that he has lost about $10 million gambling. The Wynn Las Vegas casino recently filled a lawsuit for gambling debts totalling $400,000 early this year.
7. John Daly
The golfer claims to have lost an unbelievable $50 to 60 million over the past 17 years during his carreer. This includes a staggering loss of $1.5 million: having just won half that amount, he lost double his winning on, amongst other things, $5,000 slot machines. He is working to clear his debts through paid public appearances and sponsorships.
8. Mike Tyson
Professional boxer and fighter Mike Tyson filled Chapter 11 bankruptcy recently. He found out in 2004 that he’d have to return to the ring often to clear his debt. Despite a $14 million settlement payout from Don King, Tyson was still struggling to pay back almost $40 million in debts back in 2004. Tyson is now finding himself used by those hit by economic crisis, quoting his famous line, “you always have a good plan until you’re hit on the mouth.”
9. Adam “Pacman” Jones
Jones almost faced a felony charge over an unpaid $20,000 gambling debt to, yes, a casino. But this is one NFL star and sportsman who has made good on his wrong-doings, paying back the debt owed to Caesars Palace.
10. Mark Bosnich
Down but making a rebound, Mark Bosnich has begun goalkeeping for top flight Australian soccer team, Central Coast Mariners. The sportsmen was one of British soccer’s best goalkeepers but it is in the country were he made his fortune that he has had it taken away. The player who once earned somewhere in the region of $87,000 a week was declared bankrupt by a British court in June 2008.
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