While many of his peers and teammates have been trying to play basketball in Europe, Sixers guard Andre Iguodala spent his summer doing something far more productive: interning at Merrill Lynch. The terrifying story that fans hear constantly is the star athlete who is declaring bankruptcy once their professional career ends. Unable to picture a life where the money runs out, it is a sobering experience that many ball players find out when they retire.
Iguodala doesn't want to become just another member of the bankrupted athletes club. He understands that he's been given an opportunity to make a tremendous amount of money in a short period of time. However, he also understands that window is extremely short and that whatever he earns now has to last his entire life. As he told Yahoo, "Also, being an athlete I've been blessed with an opportunity to make a good living and be able to hold on to a good amount of wealth. I understand that this basketball thing is a small window. The things that I'm getting from basketball ... I want to stretch it out my whole life."
Even though he spent his summer learning, he isn't trying to make any sort of a career change at this point in his life. The star shooting guard wants to play basketball like the rest of the players in the league. "At the end of the day, we're trying to play ball," Iguodala said. "Our main goal is to play ball and not miss any games. We've shown that in what we've given back to the league in trying to get a fair deal done.
If the deal can't be reached and there is no NBA season, he isn't adverse to exploring other options. While he hasn't decided if he'll pursue European league ball or if he'll return to the world of finance, he needs to stay active in some sort of a capacity. "At the same time, we still have to leave our options open because we still have to maintain a living. Even though we've made good money, we can't sit out a whole year and not get anything done."
The NBA season has already been cut short two weeks. There is no word on if the players and owners will come to terms and f they don't, there is a legitimate possibility that the players will need to find another way to earn money this season. Iguodala is picking up skills that will not only help with his current financial situation but also his future earning potential.