One of the worst feelings in the world is the feeling a person goes through when they lose money. All of a sudden the individual’s brain feels scattered and their heartbeat accelerates. Sometimes a person may accidentally drop money or misplace their wallet. The pain of losing ten, twenty, or even hundreds of dollars could ruin a person’s day.
Casinos are places that are designed for social amusement and losing money. On a daily basis people gamble away hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars. Similar to a casino, the stock market is another place people are taking a chance with their money. Investing in stocks is a legitimate practice, but you’re still taking a gamble in regards to either earning a profit or taking a loss. An NBA point guard decided to take a different type of gamble and according to the numbers he took a major loss.
With the 17th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks selected point guard Dennis Schroder. While in Atlanta, Schroder played in a reserve role behind starting point guard Jeff Teague. From 2013-2017 Dennis Schroder averaged 12.4 points and 4.5 assists per game. In July of 2018, Schroder was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In two years with OKC, Schroder averaged 17.2 points and 4 assists per game. In November of 2020, Dennis Schroder was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Schroder averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 assists per game for the season. Prior to the end of the regular season in March of 2021, the Lakers offered Dennis Schroder a contract extension of four-years $84 million dollars. Schroder boldly rejected the offer. He was focused on the free agency market and was eyeing a contract in the 100 million dollar range. The Los Angeles Lakers would go into the NBA playoffs with their stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis both battling injuries. Schroder’s numbers from the regular season took a dip during the playoffs, and the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated in the first round.
Eight weeks later the Los Angeles Lakers traded for 9-time NBA All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook. The move pretty much closed the door on Schroder’s career in Los Angeles. Instead of signing for the lucrative deal he was seeking, he had to settle for a one- year $5.9 million dollar deal with the Boston Celtics.
The 27-year-old NBA baller made a monumental error by turning down the initial offer. He took a personal loss in the amount of $78.1 million dollars in guaranteed money. Back in March Schroder was watching the market and he had a set price, but somehow things went terribly wrong for him. The question is who is the blame in regards to dropping the ball? Was this self inflicted or was this the result of Schroder taking advice from his agent? Dennis Schroder is still in the prime of his career and it’s possible he could make up for this critical error. In the meantime the reality of the situation is the fact that Dennis Schroder betted on himself and took a major ‘L.’
