NBA superstars make enormous amounts of money, but protecting that wealth can be just as important as earning it. That often means putting trust in financial advisers and other professionals, which can become dangerous when the wrong people are involved.
Tim Duncan learned that lesson the hard way after alleging that dealings with his former financial adviser, Charles Banks, cost him more than $20 million.
As significant as the fraud was, rather than allowing the experience to consume him with anger, the two-time MVP took a different approach. Though "The Big Fundamental" acknowledged that he had placed his trust in the wrong person, he refused to blame himself for being deceived.
In January 2015, Tim filed a lawsuit alleging that a series of investments made between 2005 and 2013 had benefited Banks while leaving him with substantial losses.
Among the allegations was that Charles had secretly withheld approximately $7.5 million, representing 20 percent of the return on Duncan's loan to Gameday Entertainment (where Banks served as chairman). Even more concerningly, the lawsuit also alleged that Duncan's signature had been forged on at least two investment documents.
The five-time NBA champ discovered discrepancies while reviewing his assets as part of the financial proceedings associated with his divorce. That revelation led him to pursue legal action against Banks over the alleged financial misconduct and conflicts of interest.
Interestingly, although the situation could have left Duncan questioning everyone he had trusted, he focused on what he could learn from the experience; in this case, it was his oversight in blindly relying on people.
"I trusted someone to do a job that I hired them to do and they misused my trust and went astray and started using my money," Duncan told Bloomberg.com . "You have to have people checking on people checking on people. I did that for a while. Obviously, I got to a point where the people I trusted were checking on themselves."
Unfortunately, "Timmy" was not the only prominent NBA player caught up in allegations involving Banks. Former MVP and NBA champion Kevin Garnett also became involved in a separate legal dispute over his finances.
In 2018, KG sued accountant Michael Wertheim and Welenken CPAs, alleging that they knew Banks was misappropriating his money but failed to intervene. KG's lawsuit claimed that Banks had improperly taken his earnings and assets over several years, including during the period when Wertheim and Welenken provided accounting services to him.
Additionally, the lawsuit put the alleged losses at approximately $77 million.
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Though Duncan was upset at the reality of being portrayed as someone who had been fooled , he refused to let embarrassment dictate how he viewed himself.
Put simply, he recognized that he made a mistake in choosing whom to trust, but he did not believe that being deceived meant he deserved to blame himself for someone else's alleged misconduct.
"The bottom line is this: You can't be angry at yourself. I keep going back to this word, but I trusted someone. I was wrong about it. I got screwed over for it," The Big Fundamental added. "I'm not mad at myself for that. That's a lesson learned. I'll never put myself in that situation again. "
It seems safe to say that, in this case, for NBA players the challenge extends beyond earning money on the court. Protecting that wealth requires surrounding themselves with trustworthy professionals, maintaining independent oversight and recognizing that even established relationships need accountability.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Oct 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
