How and Why Athletes (Still) Go Broke

EPISODE 127: Fifteen years in the making.

I should admit before we go any further here that I can’t take all the credit for why a Sports Illustrated article from 15 years ago became such a thing.

“How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke” became, at last check, the most read story in the history of SI.com. It inspired its own 30 for 30 documentary by the great Billy Corben, titled Broke. And as it turns out: it sent a Syracuse basketball player named Todd Burach — our guest today — into an entirely new career path.

Because this subject has always been a tabloid goldmine. It’s full of scammers and insane decisions and rich athletes going bankrupt, at truly stunning rates that we’ll discuss.

But what I wanted to find out back in 2009 was the sociology behind how and why athletes go broke, so often. And so I divided it up into four sections, which we’ll revisit, starting with what I titled THE LURE OF THE TANGIBLE (because yes, I treated this story kinda like it was my sports journalism college thesis).

But what I wanted to find out in 2024 was what’s changed in the 15 years since.

And so besides Todd Burach, you’re also gonna hear from veteran NFL lineman Justin Pugh, who got drafted in 2013, four years after the article came out. And you’ll also hear from Antoine Walker: an NBA all-star who earned $112 million before filing for bankruptcy in 2010. Just two years after he retired.

Each of them has something important to say.

YOUTUBE/DKN SPOILER ALERT:

Sociologically,

Pablo