The current crop of athletes, for good and bad, learned from Jordan (and Magic, Barkley, Kobe, Shaq, Lebron) that they are their own brand, and really their own business. That’s why Patrick Mahomes will be worth a quarter of a billion dollars at some point in the next few years, why Kevin Durant owns a production company and why Lebron James owns a handful of companies. They understand business more than most.
It’s also why you see fewer and fewer of the (insert athlete name) retires and is millions in debt stories now. There will always be some, whether due to gambling, drinking, drugs, or whatever other vices they find, but athletes are much better prepared to manage their money now than they were even 10-15 years ago.
