Photo via @TheWagofMutombo

< 30 for 30 voiceover > What if I told you that the greatest fiscal mind in the NBA has career earnings that barely exceed the 2010-2011 mid-level exception? < /30 for 30 voiceover >

First, you’d likely call me out on the fact that I am exaggerating. Of course, you’d be right; Jared Dudley – he of the $5,818,028 career total in salaries – is probably not a financial wunderkind. He had a piece of advice for some of his fellow players, though, as they prepared for a work stoppage that we now know was inevitable:

“Since I’ve been in the league, which is four years, they’ve been letting me know that there would most likely be a lockout,” Dudley said. “They made it clear three or four years ago that the owners were preparing for this. The players association has held eight percent of every player’s contract and they’ll be giving that to every player in August to help them. Whatever money that a player made in their deal, they’ll get eight percent of that back so even if players have spent their money, they’ll be alright.”

However, if certain players aren’t alright, Dudley has no remorse for them. They’ll have nobody to blame but themselves because they’ve had plenty of time to prepare.

“If a player isn’t ready now, then they’ll never be ready for life after basketball,” Dudley said. “If you had four years in advance to save your money and you didn’t, then you deserve to be broke. You deserve to have problems.”

via Dudley Dishes on Lockout, Offseason | HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors.

Certain fans debate whether players deserve playing time, rings or All-Star nominations. Dudley, on the other hand, sees no room for debate and has no patience for petty whining. He will tell you that you deserve to be broke if you’ve mismanaged both your time – four years of preparation for the impending doom, according to the Suns guard – and money as a professional basketball player earning millions of dollars per year. The fact that Dudley signed a five-year, $22.5 million extension with Phoenix, likely less than he could have received on the open market after serving as a spark plug off the bench for the Suns in 2010-2011, lends an air of credibility to his advice. Seemingly every major decision he’s made since entering the league has been with an eye toward the lockout and preparing he and his family for a prolonged work stoppage. For veterans and newcomers to the league alike to have not done the same is completely asinine. The writing was on the wall, and anyone foolish enough not to prepare will soon be separated from his money and begging the union to strike what the players consider an unfair deal with the owners.

No one should be broke this early into our long, national, basketball-free nightmare. Even without an ounce of forethought, players have various means to stay afloat during the lockout. Dudley’s note that the union withheld 8% of each paycheck to help with the loss of income is an important one – with an average salary in 2010-2011 of $5.675 million (as defined by the MLE), that’s $454,000 per player. Even Eddy Curry recently received a check for almost $1 million from the NBPA, as reported by Chris Sheridan*. Kobe Bryant and others are also willing to loan money to players who need assistance – reportedly with bank notes and the whole nine yards. And more and more are following the lead of the entire Denver Nuggets roster by seeking employment overseas. Those clubs may look to open up even more roster spots now that regular season games have been canceled, but working in Europe or China is fraught with problems getting paid and a lifestyle leagues away from what most in the NBA expect.

*More interesting is Sheridan’s note that 25% of players on long-term contracts are paid on a 12-month basis and are therefore collecting money from the owners year-round, regardless of the work stoppage and at a time when owners are seeing basketball-related revenue come to a screeching halt – at their own behest.

All these options provide the almost 500 members of the NBA with a potential lifeline if they find themselves drowning in a sea of debt or lacking in savings. If players are broke already or find themselves pressing in the near future to live their lives the way they want, however, there will be no sympathy from the man coming off a rookie contract.  Players who find themselves in need of the kindness of others to make it through the lockout have only themselves to blame – and at least one in their midst won’t hesitate to tell them so.

Did I hear you say

That there must be a catch?

Will you walk away

From a fool and his money?