Kyle Kuzma Calls Out NBA Stars for Wasting Millions on a Lavish Life

The NBA is a professional sports league based in the USA that's globally renowned. Many young basketball prospects all over the world aspire to make it to the league one day. Because of its worldwide popularity, the NBA generates over $12 billion in revenue annually.

Given the amount of money that the league makes per year, under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, players are guaranteed 50% of this revenue. That's roughly $6 billion split among 30 teams in the league. While that's plenty of money to pay a team of 15 players, somehow we hear stories of individuals going broke despite making big bank. Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma recently called out those players who waste their money.

"Ngl it’s exhausting hearing athletes break down how their millions 'aren’t really millions' after taxes and fees," Kuzma wrote on X. "40M after taxes is still 40M. The real issue isn’t the system; it’s lifestyle creep. Nobody told you to live like a king, buy 5 cars, or move with a 10‑person entourage. Modest is allowed."

While there have been a plethora of stars like Dennis Rodman and Allen Iverson going bankrupt towards the end of their careers, there are those who've gone the opposite direction. One primary example would be LeBron James.

To many around the league, James has a reputation for being overly frugal. Some even found it bizarre how the King hesitates to splurge his cash. But to his benefit, LeBron became the first and still is the only NBA player in history to become a billionaire while actively playing in the league.

Kyle Kuzma Indirectly Addresses CJ McCollum

While Kyle Kuzma was trying to make a point about how NBA players should be more responsible with their money, it was apparently a jab at Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum. Kuzma subtly played it off by mentioning on social media all the taxes and fees players have to pay.

During a recent interview with Forbes, McCollum carefully broke down how NBA salaries work. McCollum revealed how much players have to pay and the percentage of other miscellaneous expenses before receiving their net salary.

"Let’s say I was making $2 million, after taxes, let’s call it $950K, $970K, Agency fees 4%, marketing 15%," McCollum shared. "Those checks were chopped down. I was living off an energy drink deal, I had a $12,000 deal just to get some posts off, and I lived off of that."

Nevertheless, given that these taxes and fees are legitimate, it's likely that other sports leagues go through the same process. Meaning to say, NBA players are still likely to have bigger bank accounts in net salary compared to other leagues. At the end of the day, it all comes down to how you spend and save money.