As a New Yorker, watching the city raise its first basketball banner in 53 years has been something to see. The energy, the pride, the sense that a whole generation finally got its moment have been everywhere.
Fans are talking about the season, the contracts, the endorsements, the glory.
When I see a trophy lifted, though, I think about something else: what happens after the celebration ends.
For years, I have had the privilege of helping professional athletes with their credit and financial lives. Here is what has always struck me: most of those conversations happen near the end of a career, not the beginning. The contracts are smaller or gone. The next chapter is uncertain. Almost every athlete says some version of the same thing:
“I wish someone had told me about this years ago.”
That sentence is exactly why I am writing this.
Most athletes spend years preparing for their sport and receive almost no guidance about credit, taxes, financial habits, or what happens when the game ends. This is not an article about athletes making mistakes. It is about starting the conversation sooner, while the paychecks are still coming in, not after the stress arrives.
To get the management side of this, I spoke with Craig Brown, Founder and Managing Principal of Galway Family Office, who works closely with athletes and talent. One thing became clear in our conversation: the athletes who build lasting financial success are rarely the ones who earned the most. They are the ones who built the strongest foundation.
Lesson #1: Income Isn’t Wealth
The biggest financial misconception athletes face is assuming today’s income will last.
As Craig put it, “Most young athletes dramatically overestimate both the duration and stability of their income, which leads to overspending, under-saving, and poor long-term planning.”
His advice for any athlete cashing a first big check is blunt and worth repeating: “Treat your first big check like it might be your best check.” Not out of fear, but out of realism. An earning window in sports is short, unpredictable, and front-loaded.
This is even more urgent for the new generation of college athletes earning NIL money. That income often arrives with no tax guidance and no long-term plan attached, and a lot of young athletes assume that because the money is coming in now, it always will.
I have seen the same pattern with business owners, entertainers, and everyday families. Financial confidence begins the moment we stop assuming today’s income guarantees tomorrow’s security.
Lesson #2: Financial Success Is a Team Sport
No athlete wins a championship alone. There are coaches, trainers, teammates, and staff working behind the scenes to make it possible.
Financial success works the same way. Nobody should have to figure it all out alone.
Craig describes the ideal setup as a true support ecosystem, “not vendors,” and definitely “not hype men, not salespeople.” The athletes who thrive financially, emotionally, and professionally are almost always the ones who build that team early:
- A primary financial advisor, what Craig calls “the CFO of their life”
- A CPA who is a tax strategist, not just a tax filer
- An attorney to protect contracts and deals
- A trusted agent focused on opportunity
- A mentor or life coach
- A credit expert to protect and strengthen the financial foundation
Each person stays in their lane. Your advisor focuses on investments, your CPA on taxes, your attorney on protecting your interests, your agent on creating opportunities, and your credit expert on the foundation everything else is built on. When the team works together, the athlete is in a far stronger position. Just like on the court, nobody wins alone.
Lesson #3: Credit Is the Foundation No One Talks About
Most athletes don’t think about credit until they need it, and that is usually the moment problems surface.
Here is what people miss: credit is not about a score, and it is not only about qualifying for a loan. It quietly controls housing, business financing, insurance costs, and the ability to move fast when an opportunity appears. For athletes specifically, three things tend to go wrong.
They are prime targets for identity theft. A public name, a public payday, and exposed personal information are exactly what fraudsters look for. I have seen accounts opened in an athlete’s name that they knew nothing about until it cost them.
Their credit files are thin or full of errors. An athlete who pays cash for everything can have surprisingly little credit history, and when an account does report incorrectly, it can sit there dragging down the file for years. Inaccurate balances, accounts that are not even theirs, wrong payment statuses: these are more common than most people realize, and they don’t fix themselves.
The bill comes due after the career does. When the big checks stop, credit becomes the gatekeeper. That is when a thin file or a report full of errors turns into a denied mortgage, or a “no” on the business loan that was supposed to be the next chapter.
Healthy credit is not a number. It is options. It is having the door open when life changes, and the time to build it is while the career is thriving, not after.
Why This Conversation Matters
One reason I wanted Craig’s perspective is that these conversations need to happen earlier. Too often, financial guidance shows up only after the problems do: after the contract is signed, after the tax bill lands, after the credit damage is already done.
The better approach is simple. Help athletes build a strong foundation while their careers are thriving. That is why I respect the work Craig and the team at Galway Family Office are doing to support athletes beyond the game.
Athletes spend years developing their bodies, their mental toughness, and their craft. Financial confidence deserves that same attention. Imagine if young athletes learned about credit, taxes, planning, identity protection, and investing during the same years they were developing their talent. How many future problems would simply never happen?
The trophy represents success on the court. The real victory is the financial confidence that lasts long after the final buzzer.
If you are an athlete, or you advise, manage, or love one, the best time to start is now, while the income is coming in. If you would like help building or protecting that credit foundation, I am always glad to start the conversation. Because if even one athlete reads this and never has to say “I wish someone had told me about this years ago,” it was worth writing.
About the Contributor
Craig Brown is the Founder and Managing Principal of Galway Family Office, with over two decades of experience advising athletes and high-net-worth individuals while acting as a strategic, CFO-like financial leader. Galway Family Office provides comprehensive, concierge-style wealth management, covering financial oversight, tax, estate, risk, and investment coordination, to help athletes, entertainers, and wealthy families protect and grow their wealth.
Learn more at galwayfamilyoffice.com.
