“A-Rod is helping Joe Smith with debts of $137,000”: How new Minnesota Timberwolves owner and Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez has been helping the franchise’s former player

MLB legend Alex Rodriguez will be a part of the Timberwolves’ new ownership group. He’s also helped out Joe Smith, a former Wolves player.

Alex Rodriguez leads a consortium of buyers that will take over from Glen Taylor as the Wolves’ owners. This would help A-Rod follow the footsteps of Michael Jordan, among others, as NBA owners.

A-Rod is a divisive character for many baseball fans. The former Mariners and Yankees shortstop was the subject of a fair few controversies during his time as an active MLB player. Many basketball fans are too young to remember when he was actively courting the Red Sox.

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His MLB career and fame aside, A-Rod is now a businessman full-time, 5 years into the retired life. He’s taken to life as a T-Wolves owner enthusiastically, as his response to Anthony Edwards suggests.

How Alex Rodriguez saved Joe Smith from the brink of bankruptcy and crippling debt

Joe Smith turned down a ton of money as a free agent in the late 90s. It later transpired that the Wolves had promised him an under-the-table, handshake deal for a sweeter offer the following offseason, when they’d have more money to spare from the salary cap.

The Wolves were docked of their draft picks for several years, preventing them from giving Garnett an adequate supporting cast. Smith retired from the NBA with earnings of $61 million, but only $18 million saw his account.

Smith says he lost the money fast as a player, in a 2018 interview with A-Rod:

“A lot of people think once you sign that contract, you’re just an automatic millionaire. But it doesn’t work like that. Nobody really explained that and broke that down to me, that Uncle Sam, out of that $3 million, Uncle Sam is going to take probably $1.5 [million] of that. That was just something I had to learn.”

“Once I got traded, it was always tough to unload those homes. I was always losing money. Knew it was a big hole, but I didn’t know it was like that. Just to see the numbers and see the breakdown just catches you off guard.”

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Rodriguez helped Smith leverage his basketball talent and revamp his coaching business. He broke down exactly how much he and his wife can afford to spend each month.

Joe Smith had a debt of $137k in 2018. He’s projected to be debt-free this year according to A-Rod’s planning.