For Kenny Anderson, “easy come, easy go” means a lot more than it does to others. After playing in the NBA for 14 years and earning about $ 60 million, Kenny Anderson retired from the NBA broke in 2006. He couldn’t get a paycheck loan and the $ 60 million was gone. It isn’t news that one more professional athlete is broke. Because he went back to school, Kenny Anderson is within the headlines today. He graduates Saturday with a degree in Organizational Leadership.
The Kenny Anderson legend
Kenny Anderson left school for NBA millions after his sophomore season at Georgia Tech. Yahoo Sports reports that growing up in NYC Anderson was a basketball legend. He is the only player in New York history to be named all-city all four years of high school. Kenny Anderson is still considered “the best high school player I’ve ever seen” by scouts who are watching basketball for 50 years. After a Final Four appearance his first year at Georgia Tech, he stayed in school one more season until he entered the 1991 NBA draft as the second overall pick.
The career of Kenny Anderson
After Kenny Anderson left school for the NBA, he promised his mother he would go back to school someday. The New York Times reports that Anderson bought his mother a great home our on Long Island after signing with the New Jersey Nets. . USA Today reports the top salary in Kenny Anderson’s career was $ 9.1 million while with Seattle in 2002-03. Along the way, Anderson somehow had seven children with five women. When released by the Los Angeles Clippers in ’05, he retired broke from the NBA, with no college degree or job.
Kenny Anderson and his promise
Kenny Anderson may have burned through $ 60 million, but he was able to conserve the 37 credits he earned at Georgia Tech. Kenny Anderson is expected to graduate on Saturday from St. Thomas University in Miami. He enrolled within the online program at the Institute for Professional Studies at St. Thomas. Anderson took care of a nine year old son when not studying. Aspiring young players have also been coming to him lately to get private basketball lessons. Come Saturday he’ll be looking for a job at age 39, for the very first time in his life.
Article Resources
Yahoo Sports reports
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Kenny-Anderson-graduates-this-weekend?urn=nba,240794
New York Times reports
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/sports/basketball/13vecsey.html?ref=sports
USA Today reports
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/05/kenny-anderson-to-graduate-after-wasting-63-million/1
