Photo via ESPN
After last night’s premiere of Broke, I took to twitter to see what the general consensus was among athletes. Did they feel it accurately portrayed some of the challenges they face in becoming a millionaire overnight? Did they identify with the excessive lifestyle Andre Rison, Keith McCants, and Leon Searcy lived? Will it impact how they spend their money going forward? Or, did some continue to think, “that’ll never be me?”
Well, the truth is…it was mixed. Here are some of the best twitter reactions during and after Broke.
Some athletes believed the doc was a cautionary tale and encouraged current and aspiring professional athletes to tune in:
Others just reacted to the absurdity of the stories shared and the doc overall:
Some athletes in and out of the game attested to the accuracy of the doc:
The Cleveland Cavs watched together. Omri Casspi instagrammed the following pic with the caption, “Our cold tube is pretty full lol.”:
Judging by the reactions of NBA hopefuls in college, Broke was their Scared Straight. Here’s what some players thought:
Others were a bit skeptical, overall. Athletes like Arian Foster seemed uninterested in the doc, while others like Wilson Chandler didn’t believe the doc would suddenly make athletes more conservative with their spending:
 And then there’s Delonte West…smh:
Yesterday I wrote I was disappointed in the doc and was interested to see how it evolved in the past few months, if at all. And some of ASE’s readers reached out to ask if my opinion changed. While they beefed up the list of experts to provide more context for viewers, overall, I still believe it was too surface and a huge disappointment. My reasons for feeling this way are overwhelmingly long, but if you reached out privately, I’d be happy to discuss. As I mentioned, I’ve done a ton of research on this topic, including interviews with athletes and sports professionals, and I know it doesn’t just start and end with athletes overspending. That’s oversimplifying a very complex issue.
Also, I don’t believe athletes flippantly detailing their outrageous spending habits does anything to change this culture among athletes. If Billy Corben thought using brash personalities would ignite dialogue about a taboo topic, then perhaps the documentary was a success. But the manner in which the content was disseminated won’t do much to decrease the rate at which athletes mismanage their money and ultimately go broke.
And quite frankly, I’m surprised by athlete reactions. I don’t think their community was portrayed in a positive way at all. I’ve always felt the media reports these stories at nauseum not to inform the general public about the pitfalls athletes encounter, but to exploit them. Broke was no exception.
I could go on and on, but I won’t. It’s on record that Broke was probably my least favorite of the 30 for 30 series so far. But I’ll definitely be tuning in for next week’s 9.79* doc about track and field at the 1988 Seoul Games.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the doc. Sound off in the comments below.
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As you mentioned this program was the athletes version of “Scared Straight”, scaring kids s from grammar school up to the pros. I think for a lot of kids it was an eye opener. Most rising athletes think they can and will play forever. “Broke” brought them face to face with reality and who know’s maybe it WILL lead to more financial literacy programs at an earlier age. Maybe athletes will be more proactive about managing their financial affairs. Clearly if you have someone like Bart Scott ( a relatively young player) cashing his first professional check at a check cashing place then the discussions are not being had. Maybe this program will be the catalyst for future programs and discussions to take place. Its a starting point.
Now I know you probably would have liked ESPN to delve into the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHY, and HOWs of the issue but lets be real here. Most of the athletes in these leagues are minorities. Most of the athletes that go broke are minorities. Last time I checked the real, more serious, issues concerning minorities do not make for prime time television viewing.