Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 9, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics former player Paul Pierce walks onto the court before game two of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden.
On the basketball court, former Boston Celtics superstar Paul Pierce is one of the best to ever play the game, landing in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
However, off the court, Pierce is well-known for his often questionable decision-making. That same questionable decision-making cost him a job at ESPN and has seemingly landed him in a rough spot financially.
According to recent court documents obtained by TMZ, Pierce is “tapped out” and “drowning financially” after losing income from jobs at ESPN and Fox Sports.
Paul Pierce Has A Laundry List Of Expenses
So, how does a player who made over $200 million during his NBA career and was raking in six figures even in retirement go broke? Well, for one, a number of bad financial and life decisions.
Pierce claims to pay around $28,000 per month in child support and another $20,000 in spousal support per month. However, that’s become an issue, as he also claims to have just $300,000 in the bank and $3 million in property, while drawing no current income.
You could see how that could be a problem.
On top of that, Pierce’s spending habits are relatively obscene. He claims to spend nearly $48,000 a month in bills, including $8,000 in childcare, $5,000 in groceries, $7,000 on eating out, $3,200 on utilities, $1,000 on clothes, $3,500 on entertainment, and various other expenses.
Now, I’m no expert. But it seems an easy solution here would be to simply not spend so much on things such as eating out, clothes, and entertainment.
Pierce is asking the court to deny his ex-wife’s request for $40,000 in legal fees and another $10,000 for a forensic accountant. She claimed Paul was not being forthright about his financial records.
However, Pierce’s attorney claims he would have “great difficulty” paying those fees since his Fox Sports contract was terminated.
Perhaps Pierce is just playing games with his financial records. But it also sounds like he could stand to clean up his spending a bit as well.