OT: Vin Baker shoots for success in Starbucks management

[Mazhude]

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150727/SPORTS/150729380

"This is Vin Baker’s world these days. This is the same Baker who grew up in Old Saybrook, Conn., and went on to become one of New England’s all-time great collegiate basketball players at the University of Hartford. It’s the same Baker who won Olympic gold in 2000, played in four NBA All-Star Games and spent 13 years in the pros, including parts of two seasons with the Celtics.It’s also the same Baker who battled alcoholism toward the end of his career. That addiction, plus a series of financial missteps ranging from a failed restaurant to simply too many hands dipping into his gold-plated cookie jar, combined to wipe out nearly $100 million in earnings.Now 43, newly married and with four children, Baker is training to manage a Starbucks franchise..."

 

[Sonofabeach]

This guy is in our back yard and would be a great Bigs Coach!

 

[jibsey]

Wish Vin nothing but the best, he's obviously a great person but I even though it's a free country and no one can tell you what to do with your money, I would hope that the NBA has taken steps to try to prevent this or minimize this in the future. Where's his agent who got 10%?

 

[CallMeBruce]

This guy is in our back yard and would be a great Bigs Coach!

Would he? Does he have any coaching experience?

 

[SubbaBub]

This guy is in our back yard and would be a great Bigs Coach!

Umm..no. A guy who can't keep his own life in order has no business coaching anything.

 

[Scoe]

Umm..no. A guy who can't keep his own life in order has no business coaching anything.

Too bad thats what happened to our last good big man coach.

 

[David 76]

I have no idea whether Vin can coach or not. But a recovering alcoholic can certainly keep his life and career in order. We all know bunches of them, whether or not we are aware of it.

 

[intlzncster]

Umm..no. A guy who can't keep his own life in order has no business coaching anything.

Dunno, sounds like he's got his life back on track. A guy who has messed up and come through it is a great example imo.

Not a likely candidate for coaching at UCONN for other reasons.

 

[SubbaBub]

Dunno, sounds like he's got his life back on track. A guy who has messed up and come through it is a great example imo.

Not a likely candidate for coaching at UCONN for other reasons.

He'd need to be a little farther though before I'd say it's on track.

 

[amory]

Wish Vin nothing but the best, he's obviously a great person but I even though it's a free country and no one can tell you what to do with your money, I would hope that the NBA has taken steps to try to prevent this or minimize this in the future. Where's his agent who got 10%?

Er...why is that relevant?

 

[azescobar]

Didn't read the article but I'm pretty sure he was doing some coaching with the Bucks summer league team, no?

 

[CL82]

I've often thought that setting up a cash management arrangement for NBA rookies would be a lucrative cottage industry that would help to eliminate the horror stories we all too often hear about.

Good on Vin for getting life together. I wish him the best of luck.

 

[amory]

I've often thought that setting up a cash management arrangement for NBA rookies would be a lucrative cottage industry that would help to eliminate the horror stories we all too often hear about.

Good on Vin for getting life together. I wish him the best of luck.

I definitely agree that all professional athletes should receive some basic education and guidance on how to invest and save their money, but personal responsibility (or lack thereof) is a much bigger problem than lack of information.

Blowing through your entire fortune by the time you're 40 isn't akin to stepping on a landmine. It's more like crashing into the one other car in an otherwise empty parking lot.

 

[Chief00]

I am wishing Vin the best - a really nice guy who had some problems.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I definitely agree that all professional athletes should receive some basic education and guidance on how to invest and save their money, but personal responsibility (or lack thereof) is a much bigger problem than lack of information.

Blowing through your entire fortune by the time you're 40 isn't akin to stepping on a landmine. It's more like crashing into the one other car in an otherwise empty parking lot.

If this were the case, it wouldn't be such an epidemic. The sheer volume of professional athletes who blow incredible sums of money shows that it's an institutional failure, and should be addressed on that level.

 

[amory]

If this were the case, it wouldn't be such an epidemic. The sheer volume of professional athletes who blow incredible sums of money shows that it's an institutional failure, and should be addressed on that level.

I agree it's an institutional failure, but I think it's naive to say that this is something the major sports leagues can fix by just putting a few programs in place once these kids have already signed deals worth millions of dollars.

Most kids who have serious aspirations of being professional athletes grow up with dreams of living a party lifestyle and buying huge mansions and a million dollars worth of cars. Lots of them come from tough backgrounds and want to buy their mom and aunt and cousin houses and cars as well.

If the first time they learn about smart investing is around the same time they get their first big paycheck, it's probably going to be ineffective.

I think back on my high school education (graduated '05) and I can't believe there wasn't a mandatory basic finance course. I liked Social Studies, but they probably could've given it a rest with Agamemnon and the ancient pharaohs for one semester and given us all a crash course.

 

[Palatine]

Hope Vin keep it together. The best to him and his family.

 

[whaler11]

A college graduate blows 100 million dollars and it's an institutional failure....

 

[BlueMAB]

Institutional?

Whether you're blowing your $50k life savings on a down payment on a house you can't afford. Or ripping through $100 million buying things you don't need and/or supporting people grown enough to support themselves; plenty of people in this country have had a hard time learning how to manage their finances, including me.

I wish Vin nothing but the best, everyone deserves a second chance.

 

[David 76]

It's not just them. Lottery winners regularly go broke. We don't know all the traps and hanger-on-ers that instant wealth results in. (I'd like to give it a try) but:
1) How responsible are most 18 to 25 year olds?
2) How much harder is this for kids who grew up poor?
3) How much harder is it if you have no family background of budgeting and finance?

 

[Chief00]

I am stating what is already in the public domain - Vin also suffered from depression during that same period of alcoholism - I don't understand the mechanics of how the two interacted but it was a tough double barrel scenario. I also remember him after some basketball in New London literally throwing money at some of the guys there for several minutes. But, again a really nice humble guy.

 

[whaler11]

It's not just them. Lottery winners regularly go broke. We don't know all the traps and hanger-on-ers that instant wealth results in. (I'd like to give it a try) but:
1) How responsible are most 18 to 25 year olds?
2) How much harder is this for kids who grew up poor?
3) How much harder is it if you have no family background of budgeting and finance?

1) They aren't. The other two aren't excuses for Vin Baker. If you burn through 8 figures and don't have the sense to keep a few million it's not institutional - it's you.

 

[Scoe]

I am stating what is already in the public domain - Vin also suffered from depression during that same period of alcoholism - I don't understand the mechanics of how the two interacted but it was a tough double barrel scenario. I also remember him after some basketball in New London literally throwing money at some of the guys there for several minutes. But, again a really nice humble guy.

It could be worse, at least he's not in a jail cell the rest of his life.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

...I would hope that the NBA has taken steps to try to prevent this or minimize this in the future.

The NBA and all major sports leagues provide some initial form of personal financial investment instruction (lead the horse to the water), but no leagues can force the horses to drink the lessons.

 

[David 76]

1) They aren't. The other two aren't excuses for Vin Baker. If you burn through 8 figures and don't have the sense to keep a few million it's not institutional - it's you.

I didn't say it wasn't his fault. Just that it happens far more often than those of us w/o instant wealth would imagine. Almost every boxer. Lottery winners. Actors. Trump went bankrupt 4 times and people want him to be president. Give Vin a break. Depression and alcoholism can make you desperate and stupid