Been thinking about Pippen’s horrible deal with the Bulls and one thing many are dismissing is the trauma that comes with growing up in poverty. And then the quadruple whammy of being black, poor, from the South and the breadwinner of your family at a young age.

Growing up poor leaves you with massive insecurities about yourself, and in constant fear that your financial security can be taken away at any moment. A poor kid from Arkansas, as Scottie was, would look at an $18M contract like it was worth $100M.

Understand that many of the players who enter the NBA have never seen the kind of money that’s in front of them. They have no financial education, and even though they have agents, they lean into their own perspective rather than someone who is just an interloper in their world.

Magic Johnson told me a tremendous story once about how when he was entering the NBA, Converse and Nike both recruited him. Nike was an upstart but they offered him millions in stock. He didn’t know what stock was, so he went with Converse.

Magic didn’t believe in money he couldn’t touch and he said he cringes every time he walks past a Nike store, because that stock would be worth God knows how much. Something to think about before we get to calling folks stupid.