Allen Iverson Broke? He'd Be Far From First Star Athlete To Face Bankruptcy (PHOTOS)

By Derrick Loving on | From huffingtonpost.com

For professional athletes, the glory of victory may last forever, but the money they earn getting that win certainly doesn't.

A Georgia judge garnished the funds of former NBA sensation Allen Iverson after the former phenom refused to pay an outstanding jewelry bill worth $860,000, adding support to other claims that the pro-athlete may indeed be broke, CBS News reports. Iverson reportedly earned about $154 million in salary alone over the couse of his NBA career, but poor financial planning, extravagant spending and lawsuits have caused A.I. to go broke "by all accounts except his own," Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Kate Fagan wrote in 2010.

Though Iverson reportedly has a laundry list of financial problems, including a gambling problem and missed child support payments, his situation is relatively common among professional athletes, particularly those who have retired. Sixty percent of NBA players become financially insolvent within five years of quitting the league. And pro-football players are even faster to lose their fortunes: More than three-quarters of retired NFLers go broke within two years, according to MSNBC.

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