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Allen Iverson has reportedly gone from 11-time NBA all-star to financial deadbeat. The Philadelphia 76ers icon was recently ordered to pay over $860,000 to a jeweler, and he couldn’t cut a check. A Georgia judge has ordered the seizing of Iverson’s bank account, so the relatively little money he has left will be garnished, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. This isn’t just another formerly famous athlete blowing a ton of cash. Iverson was among the biggest superstars in the NBA, earning more than $154 million during a professional career that began back in 1996. (This doesn’t include endorsement money and other business deals.)

How did Iverson lose so much? (more…)

Wildly Successful Former Hornet Jamal Mashburn Wants To Own New Orleans Franchise

It’s mind-blowing how many stories about former superstar athletes involve bankruptcy. An estimated 60 percent of former NBA players are penniless within five years after hanging up their sneakers. But this is the tale of a one-time NBA star who has built his riches. Jamal Mashburn earned more than $75 million before his career was cut short by a serious knee injury. But he has put together a powerful post-basketball business dossier which includes 37 Papa John’s pizza restaurants, 30 Outback Steakhouses, two car dealerships and a real estate company in the state of Kentucky. (more…)

Bryant Gumbel: “Stern’s version of what has been going on behind closed doors has of course been disputed, but his efforts were typical of a commissioner who has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys,” Gumbel continued. “It’s part of Stern’s [modus operandi], like his past self-serving edicts on dress code and the questioning of officials. His moves were intended to do little more than show how he’s the one keeping the hired hands in their place.”

Manute Bol’s Radical Christianity
By JON A. SHIELDS

As any churchgoer who tuned in to watch the recent NBA finals contest between the Lakers and Celtics already knows, the term redemption is probably now heard more often in NBA sports broadcasts than in homilies. A Google search under “redemption” and “NBA” generates approximately 2 million hits—more hits than “redemption” and “Christianity.” The term can also be found in more than 2,600 stories on ESPN.com.
What does redemption mean in the world of professional basketball and sports more broadly? It involves making up for—or, yes, “atoning”—for a poor performance. When the Lakers beat Boston, for instance, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times called the victory “redemption for the Celtics’ 2008 Finals beating.”

More often, though, sports journalists use the term to praise the individual performances of NBA superstars. Thus, the Associated Press reported that Kobe Bryant “found redemption” after he won a title in 2009 without the aid of his nemesis and former teammate Shaquille O’Neal. read more