3 NBA players who bet on themselves and lost millions

NBA Player #2: Nerlens Noel

Few players have had as strange of a career as Nerlens Noel. He was widely expected to be the number one overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft but tore his ACL four months before the actual draft. That resulted in him being selected sixth by New Orleans and then traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Never mind that he lost $5.6 million right away, but he ended up with the “process” 76ers, who had him sit out his entire rookie season even though it normally only takes nine months to recover from an ACL injury, not 14. When he finally did play, he was solid, but it was clear that he wasn’t the team’s star, so he was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks.

After two productive seasons with the Mavs, he turned down a four-year, $70 million contract, only to end up signing a minimum deal worth around $2 million. That means that he left about $68 million on the table, which no reasonable person would’ve done. He apparently expected to receive a max contract offer after turning down the initial deal and blamed his then agent, Rich Paul. Noel now has a different agent, and he sued Paul, but ultimately lost.

Noel, fortunately, has managed to earn bigger contracts since then, including signing a one-year, $5 million deal with the New York Knicks, followed by a three-year, $27.7 million contract. Despite that, had he signed that initial contract with Dallas, he would’ve made around $47 million more, and he’s unlikely to ever recoup that money in future contracts, though he’ll certainly try.