There are several former professional players who find themselves in the big ones economic difficulties after withdrawal. We are not just talking about those athletes who squander their assets with a life over the top, but also about basketball players who find themselves in poverty once they reach old age.
The ABA
This is the case with many former ABA playersthe league that in the 1960s and 1970s rivaled the NBA for basketball hegemony in the United States.
When the NBA merged ABA in 1976, only four franchises were saved, namely New York Nets (now Brooklyn) Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs. Many players were left out, forced to take refuge in minor leagues or to change jobs. Others may have only played in the NBA for a season or two. This detail is important because anyone who has played less than three years in the top world league is not entitled to a pension.
READ HERE HOW RETIREMENT WORKS IN THE NBA
Sam Smith
There are therefore several former players who are now elderly, between 70 and 80 years old, who do not enjoy a pension or even health insurance. That would be ben 138 former athletes who find themselves in great economic difficulties. An example of this situation is the case of Sam SmithNCAA champion with Kentucky and ABA with Utah, whose story was also told by FanPage. Smith a few years ago did not even have the money for the gasoline necessary to reach his former university to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that success and on that occasion he helped the Dropping Dimes Foundation, association that tries to assist former ABA players who are now elderly. Smith passed away a few weeks ago and luckily for him he had worked, after his retirement, as a guard at the Ford plant in Indianapolis, thus managing to reach retirement and above all to secure insurance. Just before he went out, he wanted to get himself photograph in the hospital bed with the historic white, blue and red ABA balloon, with a snap that started to stir some consciousness.
Negotiations with the NBA
Smith, in fact, is one of the luckiest, having found another decent job after his retirement. Many of his former companions currently they live on the street and have no income. Scott Tarter, founder of Dropping Dimes, took the photo himself and has been in talks with the NBA for years to ensure that even former ABAs can have a pension that would guarantee them a peaceful old age. Discussions are still ongoing but no conclusion has been reached, as NBA spokesman Tim Frank pointed out. At the moment, however, the problem continues to exist and many people, despite a very high level career, find themselves in the middle of a road.
Basketball is a family disease.
Graduated from the classical high school in the shadow of the ancient cyclopean walls of Alatri, in the heart of Ciociaria, then graduated in languages at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and subsequently a student of the “Comunicare lo Sport” master of the Cattolica in Milan.
I am a freelance journalist, mini-basketball instructor, coach and (almost ex) playmaker. I was the marketing and communication manager of Basket Ferentino (A2), as well as an employee of FIP Lombardia.
Since November 2017 I am the managing director of BasketUniverso.
