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NBA: Adonal Foyle’s New Book Picks Right Up Where He Left Off

By Jameson Miller

Adonal Foyle of the Orlando Magic is shown before a Nov. 27, 2008, game against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center in Washington. (Photo by Keith Allison via Flickr.com/This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.)
Adonal Foyle of the Orlando Magic is shown before a Nov. 27, 2008, game against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center in Washington. (Photo by Keith Allison via Flickr.com/This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.) /
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It’s easy to forget, as we scoff at the likes of Enes Kanter and Reggie Jackson guaranteeing themselves a combined $150 million over the next few seasons, that still close to 60 percent of all NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. It’s even easier to see that statistic and think to yourself, “I would never let that happen to me if I made as much as those guys.”

Well, though you’ll probably (read: definitely) never make as much money as an NBA player, fear not—former NBA center Adonal Foyle–the man, the poet–is here anyway with some friendly fiscal advice to help professional athletes navigate the potential pitfalls that accompany their often fleeting financial windfalls.

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The Caribbean-born Foyle’s new book, released this June, is titled, Winning the Money Game (foreword by former teammate J.J. Redick). The book employs the author’s unique perspective in sharing the do’s and don’ts of the so-called game that so many pros lose so miserably.

In fairness to those former players who don’t fare well in their post-playing days, it’s difficult to imagine an athlete being better prepared for life off the court than Foyle.

According to his personal website, adonalfoyle.com, the former Magic and Warriors big man graduated from Colgate University magna cum laude with a degree in history, opting for the small liberal arts college over traditional basketball power houses so that he could “learn the principles of the game in a slower paced setting, where the coach would be able to give him the attention he desired.”

Suffice to say, had things not panned out in the NBA, Foyle wouldn’t have exactly been destitute.

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    • As if his esteemed academic background wasn’t impressive enough, Foyle also started a campaign finance reform advocacy group called Democracy Matters in 2001 and founded a non-profit youth empowerment organization called the Kerosene Lamp Foundation.

    Additionally, his latest opus is hardly his first forrary into the literary realm, having already penned a children’s book titled Too Tall Foyle.

    Oh, and he used a poem to announce his retirement.

    Just as the former schmaltz of sports-related writing seems to have irrevocably given way to tweets, emojis and gifs (regret nothing!), Foyle’s latest release again reminds us that there are plenty of deep thinkers roaming the hardwood, thinking about life outside of basketball, yet not being afraid to let the game seep into and bond with their intellects and hearts.

    Although he did retire as Golden State’s all-time leader in blocked shots, looking at Foyle’s pedestrian career averages won’t come close to scratching the depth of his passion for the game, as he explains in his poem, How Should I Tell Thee Goodbye?:

    "How should I tell thee goodbye?What can you say about a love affairto rival that of Romeo & Juliet?This is not just some melancholy odeto a hackneyed love of mortals.I found our love deep in the entrailsof the Caribbean Sea.Love that swept me to a landwhere our embrace became mythical.You showed me a worldthat few have dreamt of.Colgate’s golden steeple, a sojurnwhere ancient teachings flooded my mind.There in the Chenango Valleywhere 13 sang my soul to flight,basketball laid siege to my soul.I do not cry for the passing of our lovefor it stands radiant while my brittle bonescrumble through swift time.[…]"

    Even now, some five-plus years after his retirement, Foyle’s influence can still be felt in the league. In addition to his latest book, Foyle also recently wrote a warm welcome to 2015’s incoming draftees in The Players Tribune, cautioning “freshly minted NBA rookies” against the new set of challenges they’ll have to face as a result of their new found fame and money.

    In his letter, Foyle implores the NBA’s newest members to learn, “be wise” and plan for the future, taking care to impart on young men who have not yet played their first NBA game the very knowledge that so many who have already played their last seem to lack.

    You don’t have to be Adonal Foyle to appreciate the poetry in that.

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