Life During The Lockout: Andre Iguodala Interns In The Financial Sector

I am big on financial literacy. I think it’s an area that a lot of us have a deficiency in, especially pro-athletes. We’ve all heard the stories or read the data, Per Sport’s Illustrated, 78%NFL players go broke or are in financial distress within two years of retirement. For NBA players, 60% will be bankrupt in five years.

Sixers star Andre Iguodala paid attention to the messages. Iguodala shadowed a venture capitalist during a week-long internship with Bank of America Merrill Lynch arranged by his financial planner.

“I always had an interest in what was going on in the market,” Iguodala said. “I have a couple of teammates, Jason Kapono and Spencer Hawes, who are into it. I always read USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, and I have an E-Trade account, so the interest in finance has always been there.

Should the lockout continue (and we’ll know more on that front after meetings in New York tomorrow) Andre plans to spend time with working with a hedge fund.

With so much at their disposal, I love to see an athlete become equally vested in the business side. Understanding the way money works is one the tools to long term financial stability. Much respect to all the athletes who took this time off and use it for a little personal growth.