Sep 8, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Anthony Barr (55) reacts during the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The latest trend among professional athletes, especially those in the NFL and NBA, is to go on podcasts and talk about how their nine-figure contracts actually aren’t all that much money due to taxes.
We’ve heard it from Carmelo Anthony, Cam Newton, and most recently, from LeBron James’ agent and Klutch Sports founder Rich Paul.
Each of the three discussed how difficult it was to manage money for athletes because they’re actually only taking home around half of the money they signed for.
Of course, fans who work normal day jobs weren’t overly enthused with the idea of athletes complaining about how hard it is to make ends meet, especially when they’re doing things like buying Lamborghinis for their girlfriends.
Thankfully, four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Anthony Barr is around to talk some sense into them.
Anthony Barr Puts Out-of-Touch Athletes On Blast
Barr recently appeared on an episode of his “Bent Outta Shape” podcast to discuss a variety of topics, including the recent rise in athletes complaining about money problems.
“You know what has me bent outta shape, bro? I’ve been seeing a lot of these tweets or a lot of these athletes on podcasts talking about how $100 million, $150 million contracts, it’s not enough,” an exasperated Barr said. “I mean, they complain about taxes. They complain about lifestyle, paying the agent fees. Yeah, brother, that’s part of the business, man!
“I get what you’re getting at. But to say that out loud and say ‘oh, that’s not enough’ or ‘that’s not enough money,’ like, bro, we got single parents working 12-hour days, 14-hour days, six days a week with five, six kids. Even two kids or one kid!
“The fact that you’re gonna go out there and say that when we have real people struggling to provide and to live a life of basic necessity, I think it’s a little ignorant, a little out of touch.”
Barr nails it.
Athletes often don’t learn money management skills, and that is a problem. They do need to learn how to budget. But even beyond that fact, they’re still way better off than 99.9 percent of the population. So to complain about your salary isn’t just out of touch, it’s wildly offensive to the rest of the world.