Sammy Case And Jay

Business Moves Your NBA Player Should Make As Soon As He's Drafted

The NBA draft is right around the corner and whatever number your player is picked, he’s going to have to pick up not only his game, but also his business skills, unless he wants to end up as one of the 60 percent of NBA players who are broke within five years of retirement.  Some pro athletes have it down, and I have been privileged to provide legal counsel to a number of professional athletes who have their act together.  But no matter who your player is, they each face similar issues, and what separates them is how they handle the pressure.  So before your player signs his first big shoe deal, here’s a list of business moves that he should make.

#1:       Get Extra Insurance and a Will

Your player needs to look into getting life, primary and umbrella coverage, and disability insurance, as well as a will.  While the death of your player is unlikely, it’s not unheard of, as more than 100 NBA, MLB, and NFL athletes have died during their careers.  Without a significant life insurance policy on top of the minimal one that may be provided to all players under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, death would mean financial ruin for those who will soon depend upon his income.  This is especially true if there’s a lockout, when benefits could be rescinded or suspended.  When the NFL’s Darrent Williams was murdered, the life insurance coverage provided under the league’s collective bargaining agreement was insufficient to provide for his two kids, causing the Broncos to establish a fund for fans to help provide for his kids’ futures.

Your player also needs a significant primary and umbrella liability policy, which will provide protection from the lawsuits he may be hit with now that he’s a professional.  If he’s using social media, make sure the policy covers claims like libel, which are not always included.

And since he hasn’t yet built up his bank account, a disability policy should be considered to protect him from a career-ending injury leaving him broke.  Your player may not get the same treatment as the NBA’s Jay Williams, whose contract was voided from a career-ending motorcycle injury, yet the Chicago Bulls were kind enough to pay him out.  This is especially true given the pending NBA lockout, because with no guaranteed contract available during the lockout, an injury during an informal workout or other activity could leave your player with no future income and no health insurance.

The Power of Kindness | Beyond BT - The Baal Teshuva / Baal ...

The little acts of kindness that we do every day can have life-changing impacts on people. Jay Cantor is proof. The common interactions he had with religious Jews helped him to understand the eternal relevance of Judaism and to overcome the lifelong stereotypes he had possessed.

Jay lived in Manhattan and worked in sales. He had grown up in a non-observant home, and had reached a point in his life that he felt that something important was missing but could not identify it. Two of his close friends, neither Jewish, had gone through emotional challenges and had found spiritual support from their religious beliefs. Jay longed for something similar.

“I felt burned out in my life. I’ve always been very curious, sensitive and operated from the heart. I felt like things just weren’t put together,” Jay said.

Jay worked in a real estate office with 50 other salespeople. He had been a salesman for his whole life, but felt like he was stuck in a rut.

At the end of each month the company announced the name of the most successful salesperson. Nearly every month it was the same person, an unassuming, serious man. The man always wore a dark suit and a baseball cap, but other than that he didn’t stick out at all.

Jay hoped that he might be able to glean some wisdom from the successful salesman. One day he approached him and asked for advice.

In the conversation Jay found out that the man, Sammy Rappaport*, was a religious Jew. Sammy was eager to speak with him, but the conversation took a direction that Jay could have never predicted.

“I said to him, ‘I want to know your secret.’ [Sammy] spoke to me but didn’t speak one word of business,” Jay said. “He just listened to everything I was saying about my life. He figured out that I was single and Jewish and needed some direction. He started tossing things out to me, giving me ideas for my life.”

Jay found out later that Sammy’s suggestions were based on Mishlei, Pirke Avos and other Jewish sources. At first Jay doubted that Judaism could hold the answers to his challenges.

“I thought, ‘what will this Orthodox Jew, living in some shtetl, know about my life?’” Jay said.

Jay’s mind was filled with age-old stereotypes about religious Jews and he assumed they all applied to Sammy. But as he listened to Sammy in the first conversation and subsequent discussions, he slowly began to see the wisdom that Sammy possessed.

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