Much has been made of Allen Iverson's post-basketball financial woes. He's reportedly struggled to make child support payments and has been teetering on the brink of financial ruin for several years, despite earning $154 million in NBA salary alone -- that's not counting tens of millions more in endorsements.
Where did all that money go? According to Matt Barnes, a lot of it fell on the strip club floor.
Barnes, who now plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, spent half a season as Iverson's teammate with the Philadelphia 76ers. As recently described in Sports Illustrated, Iverson gave the young Barnes a quick introduction to finance management -- that is, the exact wrong way to do it.
"Allen was the first guy that showed me how NBA players spend money in strip clubs," Barnes tells SI's Chris Ballard. "That guy went. HARD. He'd throw so much money, and this was when I was first in the league, that I used to take my foot and scoop the s--- under my chair and either re-throw it or put some in my pocket.
"He’d throw $30,000, $40,000 every time we went. I'm like, 'You realize what I can do with this money?'"
Barnes, meanwhile, was not as flush with fortune as Iverson. He entered the NBA as a mid-second-round pick and had to work his way into a role as a supporting cast member to bigger league stars. Still, he's managed to collect almost $20 million in salary during 11 NBA seasons.
And perhaps thanks to watching Iverson's rags-to-riches-to-rags story, Barnes won't make the same mistakes and blow his financial security.
As for Iverson? He's down, but he's not out. The former NBA star has a sizable trust fund worth about $32 million. The only catch is he can't dip into the funds until he turns 55.
Iverson turns 40 this summer, so he's got 15 years to bridge. But at least there are brighter days ahead.
