Printer-friendly version Email story link

Money changes almost everything

Ability to help Mom and Dad rewarding for many

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Apr 14, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Trail Blazer rookie guard Jerryd Bayless says signing his NBA contract, worth nearly $2 million this year, “changed my life.”

JESSE D. GARRABANT / GETTY IMAGES

ADVERTISEMENTS

The life of a scholarship college basketball player isn’t bad at all.

Tuition, housing and living expenses are, for the most part, covered. Training table takes care of meals.

For the typical student-athlete, though, the budget is tight. There’s not a lot of extra spending money.

And then, for the player lucky enough to make it in the NBA, life does a 180.

“It definitely changed my life,” Trail Blazer rookie Jerryd Bayless says. “I became a millionaire.”

The average NBA salary this season is nearly $5 million. The rookie pay scale allows for the No. 1 draft pick, Chicago guard Derrick Rose, to get more than $4.8 million this season, down to $957,120 for the final pick in the first round, Boston guard J.R. Giddens. The rookie minimum salary is $441,114.

Salaries for the 15 players on the Portland roster this season range from Joel Przybilla’s $6.31 million to Shav Randolph’s $826,269.

Even for those at the bottom of the NBA ocean, there are a lot of clams to be had.

Bayless’ upbringing in Phoenix was upper-middle class. His father, Brad Bayless, is a psychologist. His mother, Denise Bowman, is a college professor.

Still, “the whole world changed financially,” says Bayless, when the Arizona point guard signed a five-year contract worth $13.5 million, including nearly $2 million this season as the 11th pick in last June’s draft. “Both my parents do well, but it’s a different situation for us from here on out.”

Even as a second-round pick out of Maryland in 2003, Steve Blake found his financial worries behind him.

“You don’t have to really think about money anymore – or at least as much as you did,” says Blake, a sixth-year pro reaping $4.25 million this season. “You can buy things when you want to.”

More expensive food, for instance.

“You go from eating at McDonald’s and, for a treat, at Red Lobster – you go from that to Morton’s,” Phoenix forward Grant Hill says. “Actually, I didn’t jump right to Morton’s – I went to Outback Steakhouse. That was a big step up for me my rookie year.”

Przybilla’s father, Doug, worked as an underwriter for American Express. His mother, Linda, continues to work as a teacher’s assistant. Once Przybilla signed his first NBA contract after being chosen with the ninth pick in the 2000 draft, life would never be the same.

“I came from a family where we didn’t have the extras,” Przybilla says. “Mom and Dad worked their tail off to make ends meet. In high school or college (at Minnesota), when I got some money, it was almost shocking. If I had $20 in my pocket, it was a lot.

“It made me realize how important it had been to work hard to put myself in good financial position and that I need to take care of it. And I had to save, because it may not be there forever.”

TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO: L.E. BASKOW • Trail Blazer forward Channing Frye, shooting a hook shot over Miami’s Michael Beasley, says NBA players have to be careful with both investments and requests for financial assistance from friends.

Greg Oden, the product of a single-parent family in Indianapolis, found signing his five-year, $31.6-million contract as the top pick of the 2007 draft a bonanza for both him and his mother, Zoe.

“It was good,” Oden says. “I know my mom can be taken care of for the rest of her life. It sure feels good to be able to take care of her, after she took care of me.”

With plenty of money for the first time, Oden made a few purchases.

“Nothing too big,” Oden says. “Got my mom a house. Got myself a house. Got my mom a car. Got myself a car – a used Dodge Charger. Nothing too crazy.”

Channing Frye admits to a few luxuries purchased after being taken by the New York Knicks with the eighth pick in the 2005 draft, including an expensive dog, a $35,000 watch and a pair of new automobiles – a Mercedes-Benz and an MG.

“And I bought a house in Connecticut,” the Blazer forward/ center says. “Two weeks after the season started, a convicted felon moved across the street. Bad investment.”

Przybilla’s one major purchase when he signed in 2000 was a new Mercedes F600.

“Still have it,” he says. “I’ll give it to my son when he is old enough to drive.”

Brandon Roy will never forget the moment he signed his first contract while in Lake Tahoe during the summer of 2006.

“It definitely changed my life,” says Portland’s all-star guard, who bought himself a Cadillac Escalade. “Such a good feeling. You go from lower-middle class growing up to being able to support your family. I knew I could help my family in times of need.

“I got Mom and Dad a new car and a condo in Seattle. They’re going to get a home this summer. Those things are special to me. My parents went through some hard times, so to see them have some things, it makes me feel great.”

Asked how life changed for him after his first rookie contract, Hill jokes, “I found myself paying a lot more taxes.”

“Honestly,” he says, “I didn’t make a lot of purchases. I rented a place in Detroit. I had an endorsement contract with a GMC dealer, so he gave me a Suburban truck. I kept it relatively simple. It was an extension of being in college, in some respects.

“But I was single at the time, and after my first year, I realized I needed a chef, a housekeeper . . . I needed some help. There was too much to do, and I had the money to take care of it.”

Hill – son of former NFL running back great Calvin Hill – recalls a feeling of autonomy when he signed an $800,000 rookie card deal with Signature Cards before the draft.

“That was like, wow, with one sign of the pen . . . you don’t have to rely on Mom and Dad anymore,” Hill says. “My lifestyle didn’t necessarily change, but the mindset of knowing I was really independent was there.

“With most college students, you have a taste of independence, but you’re still dependent financially to your parents. Now, I didn’t have to answer to Mom and Dad – at least when it came to money.”

NBA circles are rife with stories of rookies wasting major money on bling. Most of the Blazers say they were conservative with their purchases after signing their first contract.

“You find yourself being able to do more things you want to do,” says LaMarcus Aldridge, who signed a five-year deal worth $26.5 million after being tabbed as the second pick in the 2006 draft. “But I don’t feel like it was a dramatic change for me. I just took things slow.

“I bought a new Range Rover, but that was it. I didn’t buy a house at first. Even with a lot of money, my plan was to take it slowly and gradually get things over time.”

1 | 2 Next Page >>