10 Former Star NBA Point Guards You Had No Idea Found A Better Career Path After Basketball
Life after basketball is often daunting for players. It generally means that the chance to earn a lot of money is gone, and former players are shoved back into society without the lights and glamour that followed them throughout their lives. While many former ballers have struggled with their career path after the NBA, some have thrived. Truth be told, quite a few ex-point guards have built wealth or garnered lofty reputations after their NBA careers have ended.
The end of a playing career doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the end of everything. Some retirees stick within the basketball realm, and some thrive off of it.
Let’s take a look at ten former NBA point guards who have found a better career path after basketball.
Which former point guards thrived after their NBA careers were over?
Tony Parker
With four NBA championships, one Finals MVP award, and multiple all-stars and All-NBA teams, Tony Parker has been a winner on the court. He was the best point guard for the San Antonio Spurs for more than a decade, and his determination, longevity, and consistency were instrumental to his success throughout his 18-year NBA career.
Even before retiring from the NBA in 2019, Parker invested his career earnings to become the majority owner of LDLC ASVEL, a professional basketball team in France, in 2014.
Since then, he has become the team’s president and often oversees their games, both in Euroleague play and the LNB Elite.
Parker’s business ventures aren’t restricted only to basketball. He’s also dabbled in wine production and owns Chateau Saint Laurent, a wine estate near Avignon, France.
Penny Hardaway
When we think about athletic guards in the 1990s, it’s impossible not to include Penny Hardaway’s name in that conversation. The 6 foot 7 point guard was part of four all-star teams and three All-NBA teams from 1993 to 1998.
He was Shaquille O’Neal’s main sidekick during the Orlando Magic’s NBA Finals run in 1995. However, multiple knee injuries derailed his once-promising career, and Hardaway limped through his final years in the league, becoming a role player in the process.
Hardaway retired from the NBA in 2008 and stayed away from basketball for a while. In 2011, the former all-star agreed to be an interim coach for his middle school alma mater, Lester Middle School, after a medical issue sidelined the team’s head coach.
It was not until 2018 when Hardway caught his big break in coaching. He was hired to become the head coach of the Memphis Tigers, a position he has held to this day. Hardaway signed a lucrative extension worth 16 million dollars with the team in 2022, which will last until 2028.
Jay Williams
The 6-foot-2 Williams had it all going for him early in his basketball career. He won a National Title in 2001 as a member of Duke and was named the National College Player of the Year in 2002.
Projected to be the best point guard prospect in the 2002 NBA Draft, the Bulls selected him 2nd overall, hoping to hasten their rebuild after the Michael Jordan era.
But as fate would have it, Williams was involved in a motorcycle accident after his rookie season in the NBA concluded. He sustained multiple injuries in the process, thus ending his basketball career prematurely at just the age of 21. He tried to make a comeback in 2006, but it was cut short due to the lingering injuries he had suffered in the accident.
Bout of depression hampered his outlook in life, but Williams overcame it after being asked to be a guest basketball analyst by CBS in the 2008 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Impressed by his natural talent behind the mic, ESPN hired Williams as a full-time NBA analyst shortly after.
Since then, he has released an autobiography, co-founded a consulting company, owns a restaurant in New York, and serves as an advisor for a digital marketing company.
Muggsy Bogues
Muggsy’s basketball career was nothing short(no pun intended) of a miracle. At just 5 feet 3 inches, not only was Bogues the shortest point guard in the NBA, but he was also the shortest player ever to play professional basketball.
While not an all-star, the diminutive Bogues was a showman, especially during his time with the Charlotte Hornets. He entertained crowds with his quickness and feisty demeanor on the court, especially on the defensive end. After playing for 14 years, the former Wake Forest star retired in 2001.
After leaving the NBA, Bogues ventured into the real estate business. In 2005, he was hired to become the head coach of the Charlotte Sting in the WNBA. Bogues then became a high school coach from 2011 to 2014.
In addition to being named a basketball ambassador for the Charlotte Hornets in 2014, Bogues is a motivational speaker and also invested in a clothing company that mostly caters to shorter men like him.
Spud Webb
Another short player with a big game, Spud Webb, single-handedly put the entire world on notice after winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1986. What’s the fuss about winning it? Well, for starters, Spud only stood 5 foot 7.
Yes, you read that right. He’s only 5 foot 7, dunking on a 10-foot basketball rim. Crazy times.
Webb went on to play twelve seasons in the NBA, primarily playing the point guard position. After retiring from the game in 1998, Spud went on to have a successful career in the professional speaking circuit.
He was also named as the president of basketball operations for the Texas Legends, the G-League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks, from 2010 to 2023.
Greg Anthony
An NCAA champion in 1990, Greg Anthony didn’t exactly have the career of an all-star that many hoped he would achieve when he was drafted into the NBA in 1991.
The 6-foot point guard played 11 years in the NBA and was fondly remembered during his time with the Knicks from 1991 to 1995.
Upon retiring in 2002, Anthony joined ESPN as an NBA analyst and for ABC’s broadcast. In 2008, he debuted as a lead commentator and analyst for CBS, covering college basketball. Anthony is one of the most respected basketball analysts in the world today.
Maurice Cheeks
Many people tend to forget that Maurice Cheeks was the starting point guard for the Julius Erving-led Philadelphia 76ers during their 1983 NBA Finals run and subsequent triumph.
Cheeks was named a four-time all-star in his 15-year career in the league, playing for the Sixers, Spurs, Knicks, Hawks, and Nets. The Sixers rightfully retired his jersey number 10 in 1995, just a couple of years after his playing career ended.
Shortly after hanging up in 1993, Cheeks was back on the sidelines in the NBA, taking on an assistant coaching role for the Sixers in 1994.
This would be the start of Cheeks’ lengthy coaching career, which included either head coaching or assistant coaching gigs with the Sixers, Blazers, Thunder, Pistons, Bulls, and Knicks.
Dave Bing
Bing was one of the best players and point guards in Pistons history, gathering multiple all-star selections and All-NBA teams in his resume. He was named to the NBA’s 50th and 75th greatest players of all time.
If you think his outstanding work ethic stopped when he retired in 1978, you would be wrong.
Shortly after hanging up his sneakers, Bing ventured into business and founded Bing Steel, which later became The Bing Group. He grew his empire even more with savvy business decisions after basketball.
From 2009 to 2013, Bing served as the mayor of Detroit. From pro basketball to business magnate and mayor? There’s nothing Bing couldn’t do in life.
Steve Kerr
This may not be a secret, but it would be criminal not to include Steve Kerr in this list.
As we all know, Steve Kerr is arguably the best head coach in Golden State Warriors history. He has steered them to four NBA titles and is often cited or credited for the three-point evolution in today’s game.
When we talk about Kerr as a player, he was mostly relegated to a backup point guard role, only starting 30 out of 910 games throughout his 15-year NBA career. However, as a player, Kerr won five NBA championships – three with the Bulls and two with the Spurs.
Before his head coaching gig with the Warriors, which started in 2014, Kerr was a color commentator with TNT from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2010 to 2014.
Magic Johnson
This name doesn’t need an extensive background check. For a quick recap of Magic Johnson’s NBA career, he was a five-time NBA champion, a three-time Finals MVP, a three-time league MVP, multiple all-star selections, and a plethora of All-NBA teams.
Yeah. Magic was the GOAT of NBA point guards, and it’s not even close.
Although illness cut short his basketball career, Magic has built his 1.5 billion net worth mostly off of it. His business empire includes sports franchises, financial services, and technology.
He is a current co-owner of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, MLS’s Los Angeles Football Club, and NFL’s Washington Commanders.
It seems like anything Johnson touches turns to magic, both on and off the court.
10 Former Star NBA Point Guards You Had No Idea Found A Better Career Path After Basketball
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