Site icon Side Action

Jalen Rose Details How He Blew Through His Entire $2.2-Million Rookie Contract

Mike Greenberg, left, and Jalen Rose participate in the "Get Up" panel during the ESPN Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, in Pasadena,Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Throughout the years we’ve all heard plenty of stories about former rich athletes who go broke.

Former NBA star Jalen Rose isn’t one of them, but he did spend plenty of his money when he signed his rookie contract with the Denver Nuggets. After Jalen was selected No. 13 overall in the 1994 NBA Draft, the former Fab Five member spent some serious cash on things he never even used.

For example, Jalen spent some of that rookie money on a luxury phone for “high-net-worth individuals” called Vertu.

“I paid $15,000 for a phone that I never used,” Rose said. “That’s a dumb purchase.”

According to Vertu’s website, users have access to a 24/7 private butler service that takes requests via voice message, phone call, or email. “The people who make Rolls-Royces made this phone,” Rose says. “If you buy this phone, you have your own concierge [service].”

“Your first contract, you spend it all,” he said. “Almost everyone spends it all.”

Rose earned more than $100 million playing basketball. Is a $15000 phone really that crazy, relatively speaking? No, but it all does add up.

Jalen is one of the lucky ones who ended up  landing on his feet.

I’d love to get my hands on a Vertu. Maybe Jalen will list it on eBay…


Welcome to the game outside the game! Follow us on our Sideaction Twitter handle, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest on sports and pop culture news across the web!