Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony wants to help players manage their money

There were two things point guard Cole Anthony had to have going into his rookie season with the Orlando Magic in 2020.

Before Anthony, New York miracle and son of former NBA player Gary Anthony, was drafted in the primary round that yr, bought a sequence together with his initials for $30,000. After the draft and signing a four-year, $15 million contract, he leased a brand new Tesla Model S. The base model on the time cost about $100,000.

At 20, he wasn’t eager about long-term savings or diversifying his portfolio. Money was burning a hole in his pocket.

“My No. 1 instinct is that when I get a lot of money, I want to spend it,” Anthony, 24, told Andscape. “Especially as a kid, like in high school, I don’t even think about saving that money.”

But as Jay-Z of New York once said, “.” And Anthony wants younger basketball players to come out within the era of name, image and likeness, where athletes of all ages can money in on their talent, where managing money properly is just as vital as working in your username.

“You can make a lot of money fast,” Anthony said. “You can get out of a lot of money fast.”

On August 22, Anthony hosted his second annual The Playbook event. Anthony and his business team bring together New York City’s top highschool basketball players to help them navigate the financial maze of managing life-changing sums of money.

The event, held on the Police Athletic League in Harlem, featured a star pick-up game, a comedy show and a backpack drive. The fundamental event was a financial education panel headlined by Anthony.

Anthony sat down on a panel with former Rutgers men’s basketball player Geo Baker and representatives from Morgan Stanley’s Global Sports & Entertainment wealth management division, where the group discussed the importance of saving and budgeting, how to construct credit, the role of non-public taxes in sports, hiring the best advisors and the way to navigate NIL transactions.

Bryce Council — Anthony’s childhood friend and the manager and co-founder of Anthony’s charity, the 50 Ways Foundation — spoke with Anthony about mentoring opportunities for prime school basketball players within the New York City area, his hometown. After the NCAA board of directors ruled in June 2021 that college athletes aren’t any longer prohibited from cashing in on their talent, athletes of all ages, even already on the age of 9, managed to earn a variety of money from recommendations.

“They’re making money a lot earlier than we were making money when we were in high school,” Anthony said.

Growing up in New York City because the son of Greg Anthony, who played 11 seasons, including with the New York Knicks from 1991 to 1995, Anthony had a village around him that would help him navigate and avoid the perils of money management. Between his father, mother and stepfather, he had privilege and access to resources.

That’s why in The Playbook, Anthony wanted to share his personal story, empower athletes to learn more about money, and supply resources that may help athletes in their skilled and college careers.

“We chose New York because that’s where we’re from,” Anthony said. “We wanted to help the next generation of hoopers — I don’t want to just call them hoopers, because they’re more than that — just kids who come from New York.”

Gaining wealth will not be as easy and carefree because it could seem. There were NBA star and champion Antoine Walker squandered $108 million earned during his 12-year profession.

Anthony thought that big purchases just like the chain and Tesla would bring him happiness. He quickly learned that money alone wouldn’t solve all his problems. Within weeks of shopping for the $30,000 chain, Anthony never wore it again, eventually melting it down.

“It was fun, but it didn’t really do anything for me, it didn’t help my family, it didn’t help me,” he said. “It just looked cool. I feel prefer it was an enormous waste of money on my part.

“Although it was cool back then.”

As for the automobile, he didn’t need the Tesla on the time, but he got one and drives it to today (“I have to do something about that,” Anthony said, referring to the lease agreement. “You actually reminded me of that.”)

Anthony doesn’t want these young athletes to lose the money they earn from endorsements, especially as players’ values ​​have increased. In 2014-15, each NBA team had a salary cap of $63 million. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry signed a one-year, $62.6 million contract in August.

“I don’t want any of these kids to lose all the money they’ve worked hard for,” Anthony said. “I want them to take the money they’ve earned and let it blossom into greater wealth for themselves and their family.”

During The Playbook, participants took part in a sports-focused financial literacy exercise to learn the way investing and budgeting work. Morgan Stanley representatives asked athletes whether or not they would slightly receive a lump sum of $2 million or start with one cent and double the quantity day by day for a month, and the lesson was that the latter option actually yielded a better total (about $5.4 million). In one other exercise, participants were asked to join their five starting NBA players. They were then given a hypothetical $15 to construct a roster, with players divided into tiers based on skill level; an NBA veteran like LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is perhaps price $5, while six-year forward Mikal Bridges is perhaps price $3. The lesson was how to budget in a way that best serves goals and desires.

“They brought it into basketball because it’s a real-life analogy,” Anthony said.

The NIL era has been long overdue, Anthony said, arguing that many basketball players struggle financially growing up in the game. The opportunity to be paid for their talent gives these athletes a lifeline that was previously denied. While Anthony had the privilege of growing up in Manhattan because the son of a former NBA player, most of his teammates in youth basketball didn’t have the identical upbringing. So Anthony understands the difference money could make for those just trying to make it.

(While some college basketball players still come from poor backgrounds, an Andscape study found that between 2010 and 2015, the proportion of first-generation college basketball players playing in Division I dropped from 28% to 19%.)

Anthony said financial literacy is significant because young athletes are exposed to big payoffs but may not have the correct guidance to stop them from letting the money eat them. He and other panelists on The Playbook also stressed the importance of finding someone they trust to guide them.

Sandra L. Richards, managing director and head of Global Sports & Entertainment at Morgan Stanley, which donates to the 50 Ways Foundation, said the brand new NIL situation exposes athletes to recent financial risks and recent resources.

“Unlike in years past, it is now encouraged and considered necessary to explore working with financial advisors, attorneys/attorneys, CPAs, and agents/brand managers to help build and protect their brands,” Richards wrote in an email to Andscape. “So ultimately, the method and exploration now starts earlier, which will be helpful in the event that they are surrounded by the best people.

“Today, young athletes can be more open and better prepared to begin their high school, college and professional careers, whether it’s the next level in their sport, business or life.”

Today’s highschool athletes have the potential to earn greater than $1 billion individually as NBA players. Five current NBA stars (James, Curry, Kevin Durant, Paul George, Joel Embiid) have signed collectively-held contracts price greater than $500 million in their careers, meaning the subsequent generation of stars is destined to exceed those totals more quickly.

Given the quantity of money being thrown around amongst young athletes lately, you may think it can never run out. But Anthony is here to challenge these ideas of unlimited funds. He emphasized to The Playbook participants which you can’t continue to exist money you haven’t earned yet, nor are you able to assume that the source of funds won’t ever dry up.

“Money can be your best friend if you manage it and take care of it properly,” he said.

Anthony became knowledgeable athlete a yr before the NCAA allowed NIL. However, when asked how NIL would have affected him when he was No. 2 recruit in his highschool class and as a freshman at North Carolina throughout the 2019-2020 season, his response was modest.

“If NIL hadn’t been there when I was out,” Anthony said, “maybe I would have just made a little more money.”