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What is Joe Smith's net worth? Former NBA star's fortune plummeted from $61M to $3K amid struggle with depression

Former NBA player Joe Smith reportedly earned $61 million throughout his career spanning 16 years

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Former NBA player Joe Smith has a reported fortune of $100K. However, the basketball star did not always have a meager fortune as he earned around $61 million throughout his lengthy career. 

In a recent interview with VLAD TV, the 48-year-old NBA star shared that his fortune dropped to as low as just $3000 when he was battling through a prolonged period of depression, per Daily Mail.

How much did Joe Smith earn after his retirement?

Being the first overall pick of the 1995 NBA Draft, Joe Smith had one of the longest and most illustrious careers among NBA stars. 

Per Celebrity Net Worth, he earned $61 million in total salary over his 16-year career.

He had been drafted by a dozen teams throughout his career including playing for the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Detroit Pistons, the Milwaukee Bucks, the Denver Nuggets, the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Atlanta Hawks, the New Jersey Nets, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

He drew his career-best salary in 2005 when he played for the Bucks and received a reported salary of $6.3 million.

However, after his retirement in 2011, Smith revealed that he was in financial difficulty and struggling with acute depression. 

In the interview, Smith said, “It was a very low point,” before adding, “Like, when I say I was in a deep, deep, deep depression, like mentally messed up, I'm telling you I was there.”

He also revealed in the interview that his NBA pension “hasn't kicked in yet.” 

In 2015, Smith - who has accumulated total points of 11,208 throughout his career - started an individual coaching business.

Smith also participated in the reality show ‘Back in the Game’, hosted by Alex Rodriguez to get a hold on his financial distress. The game show is marketed to help former athletes dealing with monetary struggles.

While Smith does not regret his decision to appear on the show, he certainly expected the show to be more impactful.

He said, “That TV show, I thought would help more with the stuff they were saying they would do, and saying that they would help me with.”

Smith continued, “But once we finished shooting that was it. I couldn't get in touch with anybody at the TV show… So I was kind of just left out to dry after that show aired.”

In 2018, he also told Rodriguez that most of his earning was spent in taxes and agent fees. He said in 2018, “A lot of people think once you sign that contract, you’re just an automatic millionaire.”

However, he added, “But it doesn’t work like that. Nobody really explained that and broke that down to me, that Uncle Sam, out of that $3 million, Uncle Sam is going to take probably $1.5 [million] of that. That was just something I had to learn.”

Smith further stated that his biggest concern was housing as he spent big bucks on buying houses whenever he got transferred, per CNBC.

‘We don't understand the type of influence that we have around the world’

In the interview with DJ VLAD, Smith also talked about the viral moment when he found out his wife Kisha Chavis had an account on an adult internet content subscription service.

Chavis shared the footage of the moment when she told Smith of her endeavors. The clip made quite an impression on the internet and brought him again into the spotlight.

As his wife told him the information, he was heard saying to his wife, “That's bulls***. That's f***ed up Kish,” before adding, “I can't believe I am sitting here, just finding out….”

Denying the clip to be a publicity stunt, Smith said, “We don't understand the type of influence that we have around the world.”

“I haven't been in the media or I haven't been in the social eye in a long time,” concluded the former NBA star.