Holy Crap! I liked him and he has a special place in my Knick heart....but damm!!!
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3241444

Ex-NBA star Sprewell sells $1.5 million yacht, home could be foreclosed
Associated Press

Updated: February 11, 2008, 6:00 PM ET
Comment
Email
Print
MILWAUKEE -- Former NBA star Latrell Sprewell's home is up for foreclosure and his yacht sold at auction to help pay off the $1.3 million he owes on the boat, according to court filings.

Sprewell, who once turned down a three-year,$21 million contract extension saying, "I've got my family to feed," has apparently fallen on tough times.

RBS Citizens NA, or Citizens Bank, filed a foreclosure suit last week in Milwaukee County for the $405,000 home Sprewell bought in the Milwaukee suburb of River Hills in 1994.

In court documents, the bank said Sprewell owed $295,138 in outstanding payments plus interest.

Sprewell failed to make his mortgage payments of $2,593 per month from September 2007 to January 2008, the documents said.

The Associated Press tried to reach Sprewell for comment Monday but a telephone number in his name was disconnected. A message to one of his attorneys, Robert A. Gist of Atlanta, and an agency in New York were not immediately returned.

The 37-year-old Sprewell played 13 seasons in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves, the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors. The Milwaukee native was a four-time All-Star, but perhaps best known for choking coach P.J. Carlesimo during a Warriors practice in 1997.

He hasn't played professional basketball since turning down the $21 million extension from the Timberwolves during the 2004-05 season. He was making $14.6 million at the time.

Last month, Sprewell's 70-foot yacht, named "Milwaukee's Best," was sold at auction for $856,000 to a man from Milwaukee.

It was originally worth about $1.5 million. The bank holding that mortgage, New York-based North Fork Bank, asked that it be seized to pay off $1.3 million in debt.

Sprewell's firm, LSF Marine Holdings, hadn't made its $10,322 monthly payments on time or maintained the necessary insurance on the boat, the bank said. Sprewell bought the yacht built by the Italian firm Azimut-Benetti in 2003, according to court records.

A federal marshal seized the boat last summer in Manitowoc, about 80 miles north of Milwaukee, where it was in storage.

The sale price means the bank is still owed about $500,000, and it said in court filings it plans to go after the rest.

Last week, prosecutors in New York said they'd drop their case against Sprewell, who was accused of assaulting his girlfriend in front of their children. Prosecutors in Westchester County said the charges will be dismissed in a year if Sprewell stays out of trouble.

That's disgraceful. Spree always had of the court problems.

well I guess the old saying goes according to Jason Kapono, 5 yrs after retiring 60% of NBA players go broke

Damn man......

He not only has to feed his kids but he's gotta feed his lawyers kids, his banks kids, no telling who else.....

400k house and can't pay it off? Wtf was he doing with his money? Doesn't he have a that car business call Sprewell Racing?

Geez man.....

"Shouldn't been talkin ****" - Kat Williams

Way to waste everything Sprewell. You go from being the most beloved NYer to being frowned upon by all.

Posted by tkf:

really , sprewells last year in 2003 where he made almost 15 mil, still should have set him for life. hell if someone gave me 15 mil right now, I damn sure would not be getting a yacht and house forclosed on 4 years later. These NBA athletes are just irresponsible, actually a lot of athletes are.. such a shame...

My investments professor is an adviser for the Saints. The organization pays him to teach a seminar on protecting their money. You think the NBA's player association would require such classes for membership.

On 15 million, you could put that into a zero-risk cash account and make $825,000 annually, plus accrued interest on whatever wasn't spent. But that's what happens when you go to Vegas all the time and go to the finest strip club each NBA city has to offer.

and I believe the $15mm is somewhat misleading- they don't get all of that, obviously with taxes, but I believe a portion is paid into the league- either in the form of union dues or something else that was part of the CBA- forget what it was.

But still, conservatively, I would figure he saw about $7mm free and clear.

Posted by SupremeCommander:

Posted by tkf:

really , sprewells last year in 2003 where he made almost 15 mil, still should have set him for life. hell if someone gave me 15 mil right now, I damn sure would not be getting a yacht and house forclosed on 4 years later. These NBA athletes are just irresponsible, actually a lot of athletes are.. such a shame...

My investments professor is an adviser for the Saints. The organization pays him to teach a seminar on protecting their money. You think the NBA's player association would require such classes for membership.

On 15 million, you could put that into a zero-risk cash account and make $825,000 annually, plus accrued interest on whatever wasn't spent. But that's what happens when you go to Vegas all the time and go to the finest strip club each NBA city has to offer.

Do you really want lions to eat grass?
They leave the live they always wanted.
There are quite different ways for people to be happy.
Some people like to make money others like to spend.
It's free country.

Posted by SupremeCommander:

Posted by tkf:

really , sprewells last year in 2003 where he made almost 15 mil, still should have set him for life. hell if someone gave me 15 mil right now, I damn sure would not be getting a yacht and house forclosed on 4 years later. These NBA athletes are just irresponsible, actually a lot of athletes are.. such a shame...

My investments professor is an adviser for the Saints. The organization pays him to teach a seminar on protecting their money. You think the NBA's player association would require such classes for membership.

On 15 million, you could put that into a zero-risk cash account and make $825,000 annually, plus accrued interest on whatever wasn't spent. But that's what happens when you go to Vegas all the time and go to the finest strip club each NBA city has to offer.

yea, I am an accountant, the president of my company and I talk about this all the time. we said with a modest(by NBA terms) 45 mil contract, after taxes, agent fees, a player should still have roughly 28-30 mil left. Over the course of that contract, if he just saves and I mean put away 10% of that money in a low risk mutual fund he could be set for life after his contract is over. or even a simple 4% CD on 10 mil can get them 400k a year. After 6 years they will have 12+ mil. If a person can't survive on that , then something is wrong. and I am not counting the other 18-20 mil they had to blow on anything they want... So after saying all of this, I hate to say I just don't feel sorry for these guys...

I doubt Spree is bankrupt..I think you need a little more evidence than his boat and the house where he took chicks he really didn't want to bring home being reposessed...I don't think Spree is living in a half million USD house, I could be wrong tho...

NBA players going bankrupt is just a reflection of the general US population. It's the same as people not understanding credit cards and buying everything they want, putting it on the card and figuring, "I only have to pay $100 a month?? SWEET!"

It seems obvious to me that you plan for the long term, but after meeting many people (a few girlfriends come to mind) who just didn't get it, and no amount of talking could convince otherwise, it doesn't shock me. The "best" (meaning worst) excuse I ever heard (repeatedly) was that they didn't want to risk their savings go to waste if they died early. Worst logic in the history of the world.

[Edited by - Solace on Feb 12 2008 09:04 AM]