Professional athletes prepare for life after sports
NBA offers players an Ivy League education
by Tarice L.S. Gray
http://www.blackenterprise.com/cms/e...n.aspx?id=3746
November 5, 2007--New York Knicks forward Malik Rose didn't understand the importance of planning now for tomorrow until disaster struck during the 1998–99 NBA season. As a single young man earning an NBA salary, Rose was enjoying his success— until that season's lockout meant no more paychecks.
"I had to move out of my apartment and back home. I even had to share a room with my brother." After play resumed, he opened a restaurant in San Antonio and invested in real estate. The Drexel University graduate says, "I had two degrees, I thought I knew what I was doing." But Rose learned how hard it was to run a business and sold the eatery, realizing he could use some sound advice.
So, Rose went back to school. But not just any school, he attended the National Basketball Players Association business opportunities program at Stanford University. Rose, along with other NBA players, including Brevin Knight, Devean George, and Bruce Bowen, attended the week-long seminar to learn how to evaluate business opportunities.
An average day for Rose lasted from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. He says, "We'd jog, eat breakfast, go to class, come back, lift weights, go to afternoon class, go to dinner then go to study group at night." Rose, now 32, was committed to that hectic schedule, because of the knowledge he received from program director George Foster of Stanford’s Graduate Business School.
Foster educated each player on four basic assets they should embrace: their time, their contacts, their money, and their brand. He says, "Professional athletes are given a status by the media and by the fans that is quite special, and it's for a relatively short time period for most athletes. And our concern is that they understand that and maximize their opportunities in that time period."
Over the course of a players' career, they can use their celebrity to meet business people and build a rolodex that could lead to solid business ventures. Foster teaches how to identify those opportunities by knowing what questions to ask and how to follow up. That's crucial information. The average NBA player makes more than $4 million a year and they need to know what to do with it.
Len Elmore, president of the National Basketball Retired Players Associations, believes education is key. He played during the 1970s and 1980s when salaries were around $250,000. One might think that's enough money to retire on, but Elmore’s NBA career ended when he was just 32. He says, "Who wants to retire at that age? Even if you did play for 10 years as I did, you're not going to be able to play golf for the rest of your life." Elmore went of to get a degree from Harvard Law, but there were some who didn’t travel down that road.
The NBA honored the requests of players who pushed for the off-season seminar two years ago. So far, 24 players have paid between $8,500 and $9,000 to attend the seminar, which means there's room for growth. Deborah Rothstein, director of career development with the NBPA, oversees the program and says it’s important to recognize "professional athletes are serious businessmen" and with the guidance of the program, that’s precisely how players like Rose will be treated.
Most professions require that their members take continuing education courses. When you have so many young men who have relatively short careers and some have little more than rudimentary education in preparation for life after athletics, courses like this should be required. Couldn't hurt.
I wouldnt mind attending a study group with Bruce and Malik
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