Basketball superstar Tim Duncan ‘lost $20m on bad investment advice’

39-year-old Duncan has won with titles in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014 won the league’s Most Valuable Player awards in 2002 and 2003, and has been a three-time NBA Finals MVP.

San Antonio Spurs legend Duncan has earned in the region of $220 million over the course of his career, report Bloomberg.

However, he has filed a lawsuit against a former financial advisor, Charles Banks. The lawsuit claims that Duncan was coerced into bad investments.

“I thought, for the most part, I was keeping an eye on things. You have to have people checking on people checking on people,” said Duncan.

“I did that for a while. Obviously, I got to a point where the people I trusted were checking on themselves. The bottom line is this: You can't be angry at yourself.

“I keep going back to this word, but I trusted someone. I was wrong about it. I got screwed over for it. I'm not mad at myself for that. That's a lesson learned. I'll never put myself in that situation again.”

Duncan may, in fact, return for a 19th season in the NBA but the reason will not be financial.

“Luckily I had a long career and made good money,” the 39-year-old Duncan told Bloomberg.

Banks’ lawyer Antroy Arreola told Bloomberg, “Mr. Banks found the legal action surprising because Mr. Duncan has no claim against Mr. Banks.

‘‘The note specifically discussed in Mr. Duncan’s complaint is current, Mr. Duncan is receiving 12 percent interest on that note, and Mr. Duncan’s investments as a whole have performed well. We are confident that when all the facts are heard, it will be clear that the claims presented lack foundation.’’ 

As Duncan quite rightly says, the loss of $20 million will have no bearing on his standard of living. However, it is still a huge amount of money to lose.