Why So Many NBA Players Go Broke After Retirement

Welcome to Unbankable, the podcast for entrepreneurs who don’t take no for an answer. I’m Alex Shvarts. Today we explore how elite athletes transition from the peak of professional sports to building businesses, because being great at one thing doesn’t automatically make you great at another, but the mindset that creates champions can create entrepreneurs.

My guest is Mario Chalmers, two-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat and one of the most clutch players in the game. Since the NBA he has kept playing in leagues like the BIG3 and internationally while building his brand and exploring business. The same mentality that wins championships is what entrepreneurs need when everyone says no.

Mario said what keeps him competing is his kids; he wants to show them that even if you don’t make the NBA, there are many ways to stay in the game. On the transition to business, he admitted he struggled at first because he knew nothing but basketball. Everything opened up when he tore his Achilles and had to ask: what am I going to do now?

His answer was a team. He leaned on trusted people, a financial advisor who was his college teammate, a lifelong best friend who handles his stocks, instead of trying to figure everything out alone. I echoed a core FundKite theme: you can be good at one thing but you can’t be great at everything. A great chef still needs help with payroll, HR and hiring. Get good people so you keep growing at what you’re great at.

Mario admitted he didn’t have a team from day one, and that was his biggest mistake during his playing days, he didn’t attack the off-court market the way he could have. His philosophy now: small pots always add up to a big pot.

On leadership learned from Wade, LeBron and Bosh: from Dwyane Wade, be selfless and never make the moment about yourself; from LeBron, carry yourself like a professional at all times; from Chris Bosh, always be willing to learn, even learning Spanish on the road. Mario applies that by asking a lot of questions, he wants to know why and the pros and cons, especially when it’s his money.

On pressure: on the court he has total confidence from 25-plus years of reps; in business he had none, so his first move is to call his manager, his dad, or his financial advisor and ask how it sounds. When people approach him, he asks what they are getting out of it, because they’re approaching him about their business, not about him. If it sounds good, he looks closer; if not, he passes early and doesn’t waste time.

He loves saying no. When you reach a certain point, you have to protect what you’ve built, because nobody else will, and the big NBA checks don’t come anymore. I added that I don’t know everything either; there’s nothing wrong with picking up the phone to ask how a business works, where the revenue comes from, and what the risks are.

On leveraging his brand, Mario uses basketball, the BIG3, interviews and stories from the 2012-2013 Heat run, to open doors, then maneuvers into other opportunities. He stays humble and signs every autograph, which led me to share a childhood story of a celebrity who rudely refused mine; the lesson is that successful people should give back and act like role models worth looking up to.

On money: a lot of athletes and entrepreneurs go broke. Early in the NBA, Mario wasn’t business-minded and mostly spent on family, never going crazy. An endorsement car deal meant he only ever bought two cars plus his house, so he saved well. After his Achilles injury he started chasing every small deal until his financial advisor told him to stop, sit down, build a team, and learn from what his business friends were already doing. That game plan got his feet wet without blowing through his money.

We agreed on a key wealth lesson: nobody went broke doing 2x; people go broke chasing 10x. Steady growth, being thankful for what you make, and accepting that not everyone is meant to have a billion dollars, that’s how you stay rich and balanced.

On leadership and humility, I shared how I run FundKite: from 6am to 6pm with the team I’m an employee who will make coffee, vacuum, or get on the phone with a customer; only at night am I the CEO building the company. Mario’s rookie-year lesson from Dwyane Wade stuck with both of us: the best leaders always know how to follow.

On red flags in pitches: fast talkers don’t move Mario, he wants to see proof on paper. Being rushed is a major red flag; someone once wanted $25,000 by Saturday after sending paperwork Thursday. I added that even though FundKite can fund a business in as little as 4 hours once we have the documents, a private individual who suddenly needs money in 24 hours, or a business that can’t make payroll, is a warning sign worth pausing on.

His advice for athletes preparing for life after sports: build a team first because you don’t have time to learn everything while still performing. Start with something that doesn’t take much of your time so you can learn the basics; once you understand how business works, the rest flows, but always know exactly what your team is doing.

On whether friends make good business partners: sometimes, and the selfless ones are best. His best friend since age two handles his stocks and still asks permission every time, because someone who cares about your money more than you do will take better care of it.

To close, Mario’s advice to a grinding entrepreneur was simple: find your outlet. You deal with so many people and ideas every day that it gets overwhelming, so you need a release. The biggest takeaway from a champion who has dealt with attention far beyond most of us: success doesn’t have to be loud. Enjoying success is about staying balanced, humble and real.