The Most Lavish Purchases from NBA Players

We’re a week into NBA free agency and the league has already handed out more than $3.45 billion in new deals, contract extensions, and rookie signings.

That’s a lot of dolla dolla bills. And even with upwards of 50% of their money going to Uncle Sam (or Mononcle Liam, if there were a Canadian equivalent), players aren’t shy about spending that money.

Here are five extravagant purchases by NBA players.

Joe Johnson’s Sneaker Shrine

It might not be surprising that NBA players are sneakerheads. After all, you play basketball in sneakers, can rock ‘em in social settings, and many athletes have their own signature shoes.

But few have more than Joe Johnson, who, back in 2012, had at least 1,000 pairs.

He keeps them all in a closet in his house, though as Dime Magazine points out, most closets don’t have beds, mirrored ceilings, or basketball hoops in them. But Johnson needed a place for all his shoes, so why not live it up?

To enter the sneaker shrine, Johnson installed a fingerprint system. As he explains it: “It’s kinda like this sacred, 007-type. You see all the movies to where you have to use your fingerprint to get through the door. I wanted that so I just implemented it in my house and put it on my shoe closet.”

Johnson says he’ll take naps in the room too. I guess sleeping near shoes is soothing.

Scottie Pippen’s Unusable Jet

Scottie Pippen is one of those players who probably should have made more money than he did, with how much he contributed on the court. During his first stint with the Bulls, from 1987 through 1998, he made $22,275,000 total.

Still a good chunk of change, but less than you’d expect from someone who was regularly among the best in the league.

Pippen spent nearly 20% of that Bulls money on one thing, dropping $4.3 million on a private jet. Okay, yes, it would be cool to soar across the sky, looking down on the wonders of Earth below you.

But there was a small problem: the jet didn’t fly. And it would require at least another $1 million to repair everything.

Pippen did eventually get $4.37 million from two different court cases related to the purchase, but that’s still a ton of time and money spent on all that lawyering.

Marquis Daniels customized his own head on a necklace

Necklaces are a big part of the fashion industry and give you a chance to showcase your personality. Catholic people might wear a cross. A punk rocker might wear a choker. Someone might buy a necklace for their partner because it’s a certain color.

But, uh…this is really something else.

Then-Bucks forward Marquis Daniels was a fan of jewelry, and what better way to show off who you are as a person than by showing yourself off?

The end result: a fascinating 3-D replica of Daniels’ head made from 1,300 grams of 14k gold, white, and cognac diamonds.

It’s unfortunate that there’s only one of these, because it’s truly a conversation starter.

Gilbert Arenas bought multiple sharks

Really, this entire entry could be about Gilbert Arenas. After he signed a six-year, $111 million contract in 2008, he was on top of the basketball world.

Unfortunately, thanks to some incredibly poor judgment, things quickly took a sour turn. Arenas was out of the NBA by 2012, playing only 121 additional games after signing the big deal.

He still got his money, though, and you better believe he put it to…well, maybe not good use, but use. Business Insider did a fun profile on his lavish expenses and there are some wild choices on there.

What caught my eye — and probably the eyes of anyone that walked into the home — was a personal shark tank. The shark food cost $5,000 a month and additional maintenance for the tanks ran $1,500.

He also spent $60,000 on a train set for his kids and hired someone from FAO Schwarz to set it up. I’d criticize that move, but trains are awesome.

If you think YOUR cable bill is bad, ask Eddy Curry about his

In 2010, New York State Supreme Court Justice Jane Solomon decided Knicks center Eddy Curry needed to pay back a personal loan for $570,000 he took out two years earlier — at a whopping 85 percent annual interest rate!

Solomon ordered Curry to give $75,000 a month to Allstar Capital until he paid back the $1.2 million he owed.

But Curry said he couldn’t do that because he already had several other financial obligations. That claim meant we got to see what he spends money on. There were some necessities — household expenses for him, his wife, and kids and their monthly rent — but there were also some payments to family members and a personal chef.

Perhaps the most baffling part, though, was Curry’s satellite and cable bill. He was paying $1,075 EVERY MONTH. That TV better be made out of solid gold.