Antoine Walker Facing Foreclosure

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Nov 2nd 2010 at 1:02AM

Another former athlete is facing foreclosure. Housing Watch reported that former NBA star Antoine Walker, who has been trying to sell his Miami home since late last year, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in a Miami court. At that time he listed liabilities of $12.7 million including his Coconut Grove home. Mortgage lender SunTrust Bank was granted a relief from stay from a May Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection filing Walker made in Miami so that it could file a foreclosure lawsuit which it did in September.

Last year we wrote about Walker's debt situation after we learned that he had been arrested in a Lake Tahoe casino for writing bad checks to satisfy over $1 million in casino markers in Las Vegas. Walker is a known gambler who reportedly once played $15,000 hands with another known gambler, basketball great Michael Jordan.
J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, Wachovia Bank, and American Express Centurion Bank all won decisions against Walker for failing to pay off promissory notes. Over a decade ago when Boston signed him to a six-year, $71 million deal he was, at just 22 years old, instantly insanely wealthy. During the Boston Celtics season Walker stayed at the Bishops Forest condominium complex in Waltham and was known to have a variety of luxury cars including customized Bentleys, Mercedes and more. He also had a taste for expensive watches by Rolex and Cartier and enjoyed wearing custom-tailored suits. In 2007 Walker was robbed at gunpoint in his Chicago home. He bought the home for $4.1 million but put it on the market for $3.9 million after the robbery. In 2007 he also sold a townhouse in the same neighborhood for $1.39 million, he had bought the home for $1.3 million in 2004.

Walker bought the Florida home for $3.1 million in 2005 and signed the $2.15 million mortgage in March 2007, when he was still playing for the Miami Heat but like many players, he was traded around, first to Minnesota and later to Memphis. He retired in from the NBA in 2008. The five-bedroom home is now listed at an even $3 million with real estate agent Andre Shambley of the ERA Herman Group. The Coconut Grove home has a lap pool, Zen garden, a mother in law suite, separate maids quarters, walk in closets and more.

A Crain's Chicago Business article from last May says that Walker was hit with a $2.3-million foreclosure lawsuit on a mansion in south suburban Tinley Park that he bought for his mother. That article also goes into Walker's Chapter 7 filing which lists his other assets including his 2006 NBA championship ring, valued at $6,000 two Range Rovers and a $20,000 designer watch.The article also mentions gambling losses including $770,000 owed to Harrah's in Las Vegas and $500,000 owed to Ameristar Casino.

Gallery: Antoine Walker in Coconut Grove

Tags: antoine walker, celebrity foreclosure, celebrity foreclosures, celebrity real estate, florida real estate, miami real estate, sports stars real estate

Filed under: Estates, Sports

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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)

Hattie Crabtree Nov 2nd 2010 4:00PM

Anyone of color can go hog wild with their $$$.He should have rented or bought one house with cash and kept it no matter where he moved.Go back there to retire.

Jenna Dean Nov 2nd 2010 4:01PM

Why do people try to live like Queen Elizabeth and the Rothschild Billionaires ? they have had a fortune since Adam and Eve since the dawn of mankind,
New Money like Tiger Woods, Famous MovieStars, Famous Sport Stars should
just be realistic and buy a home they can just keep in their Real World of Life !
Living on a paycheck from payday to payday and running out of toilet paper !
I would never buy a 12 million dollar house if I won $ 250,000,000 in the Jackpot Lottery.
I would be broke in a few year with the upkeep of that price home., especially if I do not know how to invest the money to grow. People forget money keeps disappearing with food cost, taxes, clothes, medical care, travel cost, and of course the cost of keeping the Gas bill paid, Electric bill paid, and Water bill paid.
People should know Bill Gates have to pay a Gas and Electric Bills too !

Hattie Crabtree Nov 2nd 2010 4:04PM

I mean I like dat POOL!!!!!!!!!

Bill Nov 2nd 2010 4:16PM

$71 million, same ole story. Here`s the thing these players do have business advisers. The tell them that they have X amount of years to play and the money they will make,and to plan for thier future which inculdes retirement.
Do all the players listen ......................... no.
Very sad.

wingy56 Nov 2nd 2010 9:36PM

The only thing that is sad is the Celtics got screwed by this guy. They should have sued for their money back before he blew it all. I watched this joker dog it on defense and throw up brick three pointers for 5 years while I lived in Boston.

Sendai Nov 2nd 2010 4:47PM

Do I feel sorry for this athelete? No. But the advice here is amazing. How many of you waste your money on Lottery tickets and scratch offs thinking you'll make a million or two every day or week? How much money do you people squander hoping you win the big Mega Million or the Pick 4? Criticize the jewlery, cars that atheletes buy? If you won the lottery with this athelete's millions at stake, would you buy a Chevy Cobalt or a Mercedes? A Lexus or a used Ford Pickup? Would you rent a modest home or apartment or would you get the biggest house you could? You'd buy the most expensive ride you could, you'd buy the most expensive jewlery for yourself or your lady. You'd flash your big rolls of cash around. You'd buy rounds of drinks for your friends. But if anyone was in bad financial need and came to you for a loan after winning your few million dollar JackPot, how much would you really help someone out? You wouldn't. But I bet if you were friends with this athelete before he got into financial straights, you'd be hanging on his shirt tails hoping for a windfall through getting on his good side, taking taking advantage. If you had the kind of money an athelete makes, bet you'd never think of investing would you. You'd easily forget that your money came from a lucky Lotto number. You'd think it would never run out.

Yup, great advice. The athelete should get a financial advisor who takes most of his cut? If an athelete can't handle his own finances, he'll not monitor let alone understand what to monitor in a financial advisor who could be as big a leech as so-called friends who ooze out the wood work for a hand out.

Sure criticize the athelete. Put in his same position earning his money, none of you would live like monks. You'd spend it as fast as he did. You'd not buy a tiny cramped home or apartment. You'd not buy a cheap car. You'd buy your Mercedes and Lexus advertised. You'd buy the most expensive cuts of meat, not hamburger. Do you invest your money now? If you don't, if any of you made what atheletes make, you'd not be any better with investing. You'd pay someone else to do it hoping they get you more if your investment advisor was honest.

Do I feel sorry for this athelete? No. But in this society, money means power and if given enough, none of you would turn it down. Me? I've always been poor. If I had the riches this athelete made, I'd pay my bills. Buy a decent used car to replace the one I no longer have, see what it's like to actually see what a whole grocery cart of cheap food looks like by a hundred rolls of toilet paper and actually use a whole sheet, not separate it so it looks like more. Never have to worry about bills, and set up savings accounts and CD's, looked after by me alone. I wouldn't buy frivolus things. Money goes out to pay bills and food. I'd go to the Salvation Thrift shop to get clothes and shoes and they have really good stuff. You people? Flat screen t.v.'s, inground pools, expensive clothes, an expensive home with a mortgage, jewels, special sports seats, expensive vacations. Fancy cars. Who knows how many foreclosed homes you'd buy to profit off other people's misery. You'd all walk around as smug as super rich atheletes who never think they'd go into foreclosure.

And to the reformed gambler? You chose to gamble because of greed. You lost everything trying to make that big score. Now you regret it because you lost everything instead of profiting and now you want to write a book and profit off it. Donate the profits to charity doesn't sound as good as having book profits in your pocket as you 'gamble' people are interested enough to buy your book.

David Nov 2nd 2010 10:05PM

LOL, you'd spend it like everyone else. If you didn't, you wouldn't be poor now.

laurelmony Nov 2nd 2010 4:41PM

It's the White man's fault. And racism. This guy would be worth $100 million if it weren't for the White man and racism.

What a total idiot. Stupid is as stupid does.

Clarence Williams Nov 2nd 2010 5:55PM

Guess he shouldn't have thrown it away.

Mike McNamee Nov 2nd 2010 6:10PM

Guess they didnt have a money managment class at North Carolina.

ed Nov 2nd 2010 6:46PM

what an idiot

tank rollins Nov 2nd 2010 6:54PM

i believe that cows are "racially inspired", because they only produce "white" milk.

exterminateni9 Nov 2nd 2010 6:58PM

Back to the jungle!!

lenchobbs Nov 2nd 2010 8:22PM

Yo!...The brother owes ME twenty bucks!

DESPERADO Nov 3rd 2010 9:20AM

Oh gimmie a break. Claiming that gambling and alcohol are an addiction. These people are just weak minded. What a cop out..

rex Nov 2nd 2010 9:03PM

If he spent the same amount on everything else like he did on the cheap Ikea-type furniture he'd still have twenty or so mil sitting around.......Too bad none of the other crap he squandered his fortune on has the same solid resale value high quality furniture would. Poor judgment.

blkblade29 Nov 2nd 2010 11:21PM

I don't feel sorry for his dumbass. He deserved it. Hey we all make choices. He's a grown man..He's not that dumb. He knew what he was doing....What is sad? All these people happened to be athletes..Black athletes who grew up with nothing, played a simple game and got paid with everything....and is now back to nothing...That's why you go to college to get a degree and learn something to fall back on....oh well...like I said..his choice..

pau06hhi Nov 3rd 2010 1:00AM

FOOOLS!!!! too much money and not enough up-bringing. Did he fail that class in how to manage his money? thats the thing with sports people and hollywood types. Instant Wealth and just not any simpleton knows what do do with what they have. they deserve to lose it all and get out here and try to flip a hamburger like the rest of us try to do. Good luck getting THAT job. LOSER!!