Former NBA star Joe Smith was on Dwight Howard‘s ‘Above The Rim’ podcast. During the episode, the two talked about the popular adage ‘More money, more problems’. Smith noted that having to go from meager means to massive wealth at a young age was difficult, and learning how to manage your money was definitely a tough process.
“Obviously you [Howard] know too since you were a number one pick. First of all, you gotta adjust your lifestyle. Me, I was just a sophomore in college, 19 years old when I got drafted. Really not familiar with having 10 bucks in my pocket in college. To go from that to being drafted overnight, you’re able to do a lot more.”
“Just being able to transfer from financial-wise, being able to understand and try and learn as much as I can about finances at that age was something that was new. Because all we did was focus on basketball… When you get drafted, that’s probably one of the first things you need to try and focus on.”
“Then, the game, you got a huge target on your back as a number one pick. You know every team you play against, cats from the same draft class, the class before, you got a target on your back and they want you to prove that you deserve to be that number one pick.”
“I was 10 years before you, so I had guys like Charles Barkley and Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, all of those veteran guys… I had to get used to playing up against them…”
(2:39 Onwards)
Smith certainly makes a salient point about young players entering the league. College players were not able to earn money up until very recently, so for a young player right out of college, to enter the NBA and suddenly be earning millions of dollars can be quite the distraction and temptation.
Dwight And Joe Get Real On People Wanting Money And Hidden Agendas
Howard and Smith also spoke about people in their lives asking for money, especially people who have hidden agendas with that money that come at the cost of their livelihoods. Howard noted the difficulty in maintaining those boundaries, and how the greed for money can tear relationships apart.
Dwight Howard: “We have targets on our back, and somebody is always looking to scheme, trying to get to us, and what it may be… The only boundary you can create is to have nobody around you. You don’t know, you can’t trust anyone.”
Joe Smith: “The best boundary you can have is your teammates.”
Howard: “They’re still going to try and scheme what you got. What’s more powerful than money? Information. So now you’re giving somebody information on what you have? Oh my god. They can use that and get you at any moment… ‘You can give me $200K, $400K, that’s nothing to you’.”
“What do you mean? $400K, if you give somebody that today, they can have $800K… If they’re not after money, if their goal is to love you, that’s the only way. Other than that, you will have a tough time knowing.”
“The love of money is the root of all evil, it’s not money. When people love money so much, they will do anything to get it from you, they will lie kill cheat steal, anything to get it from you. That’s the problem because people are hungry, especially in the world we live in.”
(1:21:47 onwards)
Howard makes some really salient points about being able to maintain the dynamics of your financial success while balancing your relationships. Oftentimes, people will use love as a way to leverage and extort you for financial gain, and it is important to understand that.
Dwight Howard’s Agent Stole $7 Million From Him
In the same podcast episode, Dwight Howard spoke about his agent stealing $7 million from his finances, which significantly derailed his financial planning. Howard revealed that the theft caused him to abandon his dream of owning a WNBA franchise, as he didn’t have sufficient funds to make the acquisition.
Howard has continued his career even after he lost his spot in the NBA. He went overseas to play in Taiwan, where he found success, and earned a lot of money. He then became a part-owner and player for the Taiwan Mustangs, a team in the country, allowing him to expand his business acquisitions.
While Howard’s career in the NBA didn’t go as expected, he did establish himself as one of the greatest big men of his generation. He rounded out his career with a championship win late in his career.
There might be those who wonder how Howard’s career could have gone had he maintained his level and focus, but the alternative is far from disappointing.
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