One of the most eye-opening movies I have seen in a while is the 30:30 film by ESPN called Broke. In the movie Broke, former athletes from all of the major sports leagues are interviewed and give their real life stories on how things were when they were pro athletes and how it is harder than it seems to hold on to the millions of dollars that they make in their careers. I for one knew that many players went broke fast, but I honestly had no idea how they did that until this film. To be honest it always made me somewhat mad that all my favorite athletes were in the tabloids all the time because they let all that money gets away from them. Little did I know, outside influences were taking everything away from them. It is important to express my overall reaction and also talk about something that really shocked me.
First of all, after the film ended I had an instant reaction and opinion on the film and it’s subjects. I really felt for the former players who were thrown into this world of big money, fast cars, and women. There were so many influences that affected the way they spent their cash. For example, these guys are thrown into this world as 18-21 year olds that many had never even cashed a check before. Before they even get that first check people are trying to take advantage of that, as agents and bad parents look out for their own interests. These agents take a big piece of the pie, and sometimes cycle money into personal investments without these young men knowing it. On the other hand, parents start taking money from these young men in order to pay off their mortgages and other debt that has piled up. Then the extended family and friends try to get a piece of the pie as well until, like Bernie Kosar, they end up paying for 5 mortgages or 25-50 people’s cellphones, etc.
Besides the agents and parents that try to take money from these guys, there are women that are trying to get rich as well. The most shocking part of this was the fact that there is a website that watches for these young stars and sends texts to thousands of girls looking to prey on these men. They all go to the bars or nightclubs where the players are found and try to get close to them. The players talked about how these women seemed to divorce them or leave when they realized that all the money was running out. The story of the guy who told his girlfriend he was going to leave her and then the next day checked his balance to see that $600,000 was missing really shocked me. They want to make as much money as they can on these players and that is a big shame. If I were a part of the counseling services for these NBA players, I would have them all get prenuptials before entering a marriage.
Not only do women, agents, and family influence where the money goes, but also the culture itself is corrupt. Being on a team where spending is in the culture of the program, it is hard to break away from that. Like the players said, when they saw their teammates with all their jewelry and flashy cars, it made them want to one up the other guy. This even translated to the clubs where they would spend thousands on one bottle of alcohol and “would make it rain” on women with $100 dollar bills. When everyone else is doing this on a nightly basis, it becomes the norm for you to join in on the fun.
Lastly, there is one thing that really shocked me the most about the whole film was how the players gambled. I knew of a few stories about gambling that came out about Michael Jordan, but I did not realize how much money was spent and how many players would do this. One thing that really opened my eyes was seeing a respected professional like Charles Barkley talk about how much he had wasted on gambling over the years. He said he lost about $10 million dollars altogether from gambling over the years. That made me somewhat sick just to think about it, considering I may never make anything close to that in my lifetime. He went on to say that you can go to Las Vegas and see tons of pro athletes blowing tons of money on any given night. I would love to see 30:30 go deeper into this subject on pro athletes gambling to see the amount that is truly wasted.
In conclusion, Broke is one of most influential 30:30 films in the series. It is mind boggling how agents, families, and teammates can make it so that these players are out of money within the first few years of retirement. I can only stop and shake my head when I think of the women who take advantage of these players’ money. The gambling addiction that can come with big money really sparked my interest and I hope to read more about that in the future. Overall this is a very good film I will tell my friends to check out.