Whatever happened to Harold Miner, the original 'Baby Jordan'?

He's in real estate.

 

Two abnormally good Yahoo comments:

4. Posted by R. K Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:08 pm EDT Report Abuse
If he earned $20 million playing in the NBA, let's not forget to add the millions he earned while playing for USC.

:grin:

5. Posted by Corey Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:12 pm EDT Report Abuse
glad to see he used his 20 million wisely unlike guys like antoine walker who wasted about 100 million on gambling, girls, his crew, etc. maybe both miner and walker should speak to all nba rookies on what to do and not do w/ your millions


This would actually be a great job for Miner. The NBA could hire him to speak to rookies about coming into the league will all of the hype and then how quickly it all goes away. Then about how he was able to take his couple of season's salary and make it last.

 

I remember a buddy and I went to the 1992 Rockets Draft Party. We were going crazy because it looked like Miner was falling to us. When he was there at our pick, the crowd was going crazy. Then they announced who we had picked and a riot nearly broke out. Damn you Robert Horry!! I remember people throwing paper up in the air and onto the court from the stands in disgust. lol.

That 1992 draft was also interesting because of the future Rockets it produced from the first round alone :

#4 - Jim Jackson
#7 - Walt Williams
#9 - Clarence Weatherspoon
#11 - Robert Horry
#18 - Tracy Murray
#19 - Don MacLean (hehe)
#21 - Jon Barry
#41 - Popeye Jones (2nd rounder)
#53 - Curtis Blair (2nd rounder never played for us)
Undrafted - David Wesley

 

At least there's one pro baller who was able to put that free college education to good use after he retired. Either that or he probably had someone close to him who taught him to be smart with his money.

 

Interesting that 9 draftees (7 first rounders) from one draft all played for us. The first thing that jumps out at me when I look at that list is how weak it looks from a talent standpoint. Then again, Shaq and Zo went 1 and 2.

 

I like that there's a link on the page to a tidbit on one of the all-time great NBA names-- God Shammgod.

 

That is pretty interesting. It actually got me thinking about how common that might be. So I looked quickly through all the other drafts 1990-2000 and there was only one other draft where more than four first round picks ended up playing for the Rockets (1997).

Future Rockets from 1997 draft: T-Mac (#9), Derek Anderson (#13), Mo Taylor (#14), Kelvin Cato (#15), Bobby Jackson (#23), and Rodrick Rhodes (#24). I would gladly have traded the experience of watching all six of those guys to have gotten the #1 pick that year (Duncan).

 

That's a good story to hear. For whatever reason, I had always pegged Miner as a knucklehead, but I guess I had it wrong. Good for him.

 

Ah the dangerous emotions of draft-day fans..

 

Maybe I missed something but I read the story and he is unemployed and living off of his NBA money. Nothing wrong with that but it's nothing to applaud either or have NBA players become so dumb we now give a guy credit for being able to live of a $20 million. Doesn't sound too difficult to me.

 

It's not as easy as you think to keep 20M over two decades. Lots of players blew the millions they made after retirement. So do lots of lottery winners. You have to invest wisely, stay away from things like drug, gambling, and gold-diggers, and not live an unnecessarily extravagant lifestyle.

Anyway, we don't really know if he has been unemployed since his basketball days or if he just happens to be between jobs.

 

I don't think you really have to invest wisely to live off 20M, you just need to not invest stupidly.

 

That's easier said than done as so many have failed w/ same or more money.

PS, it's probably less than $10M after tax and expenses.

 

2% high interest savings account came to mind!

 

It's not as easy as you think. It's easier.

The things you mentioned like drugs, gambling, gold diggers, etc. are not things that are "hard" to stay away from.

It's only "easy" to go through 20 million and be broke in 20 years if you are immature and/or stupid.

 

Nice story.

 

i thought he played in miami so there wouldnt be an income tax there so its probably more than that.

 

I remember reading about a soccer player in the paper(can't remember who off the top of my head) and it was all about him making sure he didn't waste what he earned like so many others. He actually let others take control and only give him an allowance that he could actually spend on day to day stuff(it wasn't much either) and everything else went into savings and investments that his accountant had to OK. Wonder if rookies coming in get given this sort of option?

 

There's still federal income taxes. You aren't exempt from those because you live in Florida.

Interestingly, he now lives in Nevada, another state without income taxes.