From Court to Career: The Surprising New Jobs NBA Stars Are Thriving In Today
In 2016, Roy accepted the job as the head boys basketball coach at Nathan High School. In his first season, the team went a perfect 29-0. For his efforts, he was awarded the Naismith High School Basketball Coach of the Year Award. Since 2017, Roy has been the head basketball coach at Garfield High School.
Bryant Reeves – Cattle Farmer
Bryant Reeves floundered out of the NBA after six seasons. Injuries proved too much for the man nicknamed “Big Country” to handle, and he turned to a quiet life of raising cattle on a farm. He might not have been meant for sports glory, but he knows his way around a farm.
Reeves currently owns and operates a massive 300-acre cattle ranch in Oklahoma. Never has a nickname seemed more appropriate than the one Reeves earned when he played. Some kids dream of growing up to be cowboys. Reeves grew up with NBA dreams but seems just fine living like the rest of us.
Scottie Pippen – Livestock Farmer
It took Scottie Pippen a long time to accept his retirement. One of the greatest Chicago Bulls of all-time, Pippen retired in 2004 and instantly regretted his decision. He spent the next several years trying to make a comeback, desperate to win a seventh ring.
Once Pippen accepted the comeback would never happen, he found a second career with his brother. Together, the two co-own a livestock farm in Arkansas. On the side, Pippen still makes appearances on television multiple times a year.
Charlie Ward – Head Coach
Charlie Ward won the Heisman Trophy playing football at Florida State but went undrafted by the NFL and turned to the NBA. Ward played 11 seasons in the league, mostly with the New York Knicks. With his NBA career over in 2005, he turned to another love; coaching.
Ward didn’t get into college or professional coaching, though, he went smaller, taking jobs at the high school level. In 2005, he was named the head coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, Florida. Since 2018, he has been the head basketball coach for Florida State University’s Developmental Research School.
Karl Malone – Truck Driver
Karl Malone made enough money during his legendary NBA career to never have to work another day in his life. Don’t tell him that, though. Since leaving his first love, Malone invested his money into several businesses and even works as a part -time truck driver.
One of the businesses Malone has given money to is a timber hauler. Malone’s interest in the company, oddly enough, was both for business and pleasure. He drives trucks for the company part time and has become very passionate about the industry according to those close to him.
Vinnie Johnson – CEO Of Manufacturing Company
Vinnie Johnson is fondly remembered by NBA fans as one of the “Bad Boys” of the league. With the Detroit Pistons, he won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. It was 1992 when he retired and found his true calling.
Johnson started Piston Group, a small manufacturing company that has grown into a multi-million dollar asset. Still working as the CEO, Johnson has proven he’s much more than just an NBA superstar; he’s a life superstar!
Shawn Kemp – Sports Bar Owner
Shawn Kemp had a successful 14-year career in the NBA. He was a six-time all-star and was named All-NBA Second Team three times. After he retired in 2003, he stepped away from the court, but couldn’t leave his love of the game behind, and opened Oskar’s Kitchen in Seattle.
The sports bar located in the Pacific Northwest was a daring endeavor for the NBA star. He ran the business for as long as he could afford rent. In 2015, Kemp was forced to close the bar’s doors. Today, Kemp still works in hospitality as a part owner of Amber’s Kitchen in Seattle.
Darko Milicic – Apple Grower
Darko Milicic likes to refer to himself as the biggest NBA Draft bust of all-time. Taken with the second overall pick in 2003, he jumped around the league until calling it quits with the Celtics in 2012. These days, Milicic lives a quiet life in Serbia growing apples.
Before settling into the simple life, Milicic trained to become a kickboxer in his home country. The violent sport wasn’t a fit for the big man, who prefers to wander up and down the rows of apple trees on his 125-acre farm.
LaRue Martin – Community Services Manager For UPS
LaRue Martin was full of potential when he was taken with the first overall pick in the 1972 NBA Draft. Four years into his career, however, his potential dried up and Martin was out of the league. Needing a way to make a living, Martin took an entry-level job at UPS.
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