Nothing but net.

You probably can't match their income, but you can benefit from the financial advice professional athletes bank on.

Houston, we have a problem. The 82-game season is only nine games old and already there's trouble in paradise. The Rockets, with their cast of superstars--including the always dapper Hakeem Olajuwon and the effervescent Charles Barkley--are on a four-game losing skid with no end in sight. The press is reeling and the fans are at their mercy. But don't tell that to the team's third superstar, Clyde Drexler; he is as cool as the other side of the pillow. "I've been at this for 15 years," says Dexler in his usual monotone. "I've been in worse situations; come May or June, we'll he right there in the thick of things. You have to stay positive."

Drexler has never been one to press the panic button. He doesn't fit the profile of your average everyday jock who's recognized almost everywhere he goes. "I wanted to be an investment banker when I was in school," says Drexler, 35, who was a finance major at the University of Houston. "I interned at a bank for three years, and the experience taught me a lot about the different ways money can work for you," he says. "It's been very helpful throughout my life; so, in many ways, I was prepared."

PREPARED FOR LIFE AS A professional athlete who would make a great deal of money. What may seem like a problem to Houston fans is a blessing to the man known in basketball circles as "The Glide," for his silky smooth moves to the hoop. The Big Three--Olajuwon, 35, Barkley (35 next month) and Drexler--are getting old. Retirement, not championships, is the operative word, and Drexler is approaching the latter with his usual calm demeanor.

"First thing I'm gonna do after I retire is nothing," says Drexler smiling. "And by nothing, I mean having your own schedule and pursuing whatever pursuits that may come my way--but on my own time."

After 15 years in the league, Drexler can afford to set such lofty retirement plans for himself. Before he ever signed his first contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, he completely understood the concept of wealth preservation. "I'm quite happy with being a basketball player," he says as he falls back in his favorite easy chair. "It's gotten me to a point where I can truly look at my options for the future and access what's best for me and my family."

The financial advisor in him knows how important it is that people in his line of work develop a strong foundation--or a base as he calls it--before they venture out into riskier areas. "My breakdown as a conservative person who's always thinking about the future is to take care of your principal," says Drexler who, with help from different brokerage houses, makes his own stock picks and investment moves. "Once you get your base, you can afford to take some more risks: you can go into equities, mutual funds, even venture capital, if you wish, but you gotta get your base."

Drexler is a rarity. He credits his family for embedding that "entrepreneurial spirit" in him early on. "When respect for people is your basic rule of thumb, you can stay grounded."

Unfortunately, the list of professional athletes who are the antithesis of Drexler can stretch from here to Sunday. Even after years of million-dollar contracts and signing bonuses, athletes fall prey to money-grubbing agents, mismanaged funds and a slew of bad investments. Quite a few of them have been brought to the brink of bankruptcy.

Most notable in that aggregate is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who, after losing nearly all of his $59 million fortune to a myriad of bad investments, earned it back the hard way by playing years past his expected retirement. Chicago Bulls rebounding ace Dennis Rodman was more than $1 million in debt and hadn't paid his house note for almost five years, thanks to countless shopping sprees and one too many weekend trips to Vegas. Even though he was being paid a handsome $2.5 million for the 1994-95 season, there wasn't enough money in "the Worm's" account to cover his $9,000-a-month alimony check. But with the help of his personal manager, Dwight Manley, Rodman eventually rebounded financially and became a more cautious investor.

Barkley can also tell you a thing or two about bad investments and losing money. While Drexler was busy stowing away his fortune, Barkley was going through his period of "shopping sprees and five or six cars in the driveway and rings on every finger."

"After you grow up and you're poor, I don't think there's anything like when you go to the NBA and you have all this money," says Barkley, who was raised by his mother and grandmother in Leeds, Alabama. "It's a culture shock. Unless you are careful and strong, you can go broke in a hurry."

And that's what almost happened to him. In 1984, after his sophomore year at Auburn University, the Philadelphia 76ers picked him fifth in the NBA draft. Barkley's agent, Lance Jay Luchnick, a San Antonio lawyer whom he had met at Auburn, negotiated a four-year, $2 million deal (which was renegotiated in '86 to eight years at $12 million). All financial matters were entrusted to Luchnick, and that, Barkley now says, was his biggest mistake. "Lance was putting my money, my hard-earned money, into high-risk, speculative ventures that to this day haven't earned me one dime," Barkley wrote in his 1992 book, Outrageous! The Fine Life and Flagrant Good Times of Basketball's Irresistible Force (Simon & Schuster, $5.99)

Luchnick's suspect investments put Barkley close to $1 million in the hole by the mid-'80s. Along the way, he had Barkley invest about $100,000 in two hotels: one went bankrupt; the other never got off the ground. Another $50,000 was invested in a Texas bank that went bust, $50,000 in a car dealership in New Jersey that didn't reap him profits and over $350,000 on farm ventures in Texas. But perhaps the biggest scam of all was the $900,000 Highway 90 Joint Venture, which owned raw land near San Antonio that was supposed to be worth $1.5 million. In 1990, it was appraised for less than the $600,000 note Barkley took out to buy the property.

But Barkley never questioned Luchnick's dealings. As long as he got his $10,000-a-month allowance, Barkley says, life was good. But word started to spread from other NBA players whom Luchnick had represented that the agent was bad news. When Barkley caught on and inquired about his dealings, the relationship went sour and the two parted ways. That parting cost Barkley--after paying off accrued debt, the IRS, accountants and lawyers--a cool $1.5 million.

SETTING THE RIGHT PICKS

"Charles didn't have what you would call blue-chip-type investments, and he wasn't keeping up with what was going on," says Glenn Guthrie, a Birmingham, Alabama, investment banker who helped Barkley regain his financial footing and has been the athlete's business manager, agent and confidant for more than eight years. Guthrie needed a plan to help right Barkley's portfolio. The athlete's history of bad investments had made him timorous of the stock market and investing. But his long-standing friendship with Guthrie, an investment vice president for J.C. Bradford Co., an investment banking firm headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, provided Barkley with a degree of comfort he hadn't had since the Luchnick debacle.

"The approach we took when I got involved in business with Charles was to build a base on blue-chip investments that he can live off, and once we've built that base, we'd branch out into more speculative areas," says Guthrie, 58, who used to attend Barkley's basketball games at Leeds High.

First off, the investment broker sought to lay a solid and diversified foundation and, at the same time, keep market risk to a minimum. "Initially, we concentrated on building a base on tax-free bonds, and from there we diversified into stocks and mutual funds," says Guthrie, whose first financial transaction with Barkley was a $30,000 check that he put into "a solid, tax-free investment."

Next, Guthrie decided to key in on major themes, such as international investments. He figured Templeton Developing Markets Trust Fund (800-342-5236) would be an opportunity to get in on emerging markets in what the World Bank and the International Finance Corp. consider low- to middle-income countries. Even though the stock markets of developing nations are often more volatile than those of developed ones, emerging markets, such as Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Uganda, have delivered higher returns over the past five years.

Domestically, Guthrie saw a great opportunity in bank mergers and consolidations. So he got Barkley into the John Hancock Regional Bank Fund (800225-5291), which is well suited for individuals with longer time horizons and those who want to diversify their portfolios. The fund also seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in regional banks and other lending institutions.

He also got Charles into individual stocks. With oil prices rising over the past few years, Guthrie decided drilling stocks like Leviathan Gas Pipeline L.P. (713-224-7400) and Seitel Inc. (713-G27-1990) were good bets. "I can't comment on the stocks, but I'll tell you this," Guthrie says, "I'm tickled to death with them."

Not one to leave any stones unturned, Guthrie also got Barkley in on the technological revolution taking corporate America by storm. As of this writing, it has been only nine months since his most recent purchase--BMC Software Inc. (713-918-8800). "Charles can truly play out his career and not worry about his financial portfolio," Guthrie says. "He's in good shape."

Barkley admits he wasn't one to read the paper beyond the sports pages early on in his career. Since his partnership with Guthrie, however, he's developed the habit of checking up on the stock market and collaborating with him on his investment picks. Barkley continues to lives on that $10,000-a-month allowance, which is allotted for him and his family and is taken out after his bills are paid.

AGENTS OF CHANGE

While friendship was the driving force behind the Guthrie-Barkley partnership, other African American athletes are making a conscious effort to have blacks represent them as agents, financial advisors and lawyers. Blacks dominate the NBA and NFL in terms of racial composition (80% and 67%, respectively), but only a handful of black athletes have African Americans in their corners. "I think it's symptomatic of us [African Americans]; we tend not to do business with one another," asserts Earl A. Layne, a financial advisor for 76 pros in the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball. "There's probably maybe a half dozen other African Americans in the [sports] financial services industry in a prominent way," says Layne, 29, a vice president at the Professional Sports Division of Star Bank in Cincinnati. "And that's a low number when you figure that between football, basketball and baseball, there's close to 3,000 athletes under contract and probably six brothers that are prominent," says Layne.

One of Layne's football-playing clients, Carolina Panthers linebacker Lamar Lathon, is just as adamant about having black representation. Ever since he was drafted in 1990, most of the people who have handled his affairs--investors, accountants and lawyers--have been black. "I like to think of myself as a trailblazer," says Lathon, 31. "I see whites and Asians patronizing their own people, and I thought as a professional football player it would be good for me to do this so other football players could see that white people aren't the only ones in positions like Earl [Layne]," he says. "I think [other athletes] are either ignorant or just afraid to act out and take control of their own destiny. I don't like to be biased or closed-minded about anything, but I think it's important for black athletes to realize that we need to put some money back into our community."

Slowly, Lathon's sentiments are starting to have an impact on other professional athletes. "I feel that with the proliferation of African Americans in sports, they should give us the opportunity to deal with them in the world of business," says L. Fallasha Erwin, a Detroit CPA and attorney who represents Chris Webber, the Washington Wizards forward. Webber, who could have chosen any of the big name white agents when he came out of Michigan in 1993, went with veteran agent William Strickland. The financial marriage hasn't hurt either side. In 1995, Strickland, formerly of IMG Basketball, negotiated what was then the NBA's fourth-largest contract for Webber for six years, $57 million.

"I feel disappointed for [any prospective professional athlete] who comes out and chooses an agent solely for monetary reasons. I think it's selfish," says Webber, 24. "We all get to this level because of God, first of all, but we as athletes shouldn't forget where we've come from."

Far too often, Webber says, when athletes seek out professionals, they say they're looking for the best man or woman, but oftentimes blacks aren't included in that group. "There are a lot of us who want to be respected and choose white lawyers and agents, and I think it's a situation where, `If I get in trouble, who would I look good with?"'

"Professional athletes are not only role models, but they can also influence major corporations just by the endorsements that they bring in," says Erwin, who was blasted by Business Week in 1996 for his "get-out-of-my-way" negotiating style, which, the article reported, has cost Webber business and endorsement opportunities. Erwin, who filed a lawsuit against the magazine last April, contends that the writer, Willy Stern, who no longer works for Business Week, "tried to ruin me.

"I don't understand," Erwin says. "When a white guy plays hardball [while negotiating with a team], he's a good, hard-nosed businessman, but when a brother does it, he's greedy. There's a different standard out there for African Americans."

Still, Strickland warns, the "unscrupulous sports agent" has no color. "The problem [of mismanagement] continues to exist, but there's a more heightened awareness and I think today's young person is more receptive to staying on top of things," says Strickland, who also represents Portland Trail Blazers forward Rasheed Wallace and New York Knicks guard Allan Houston, among others.

According to an article in USA Today last August, John Gillette Jr., a business partner of San Diego Chargers linebacker Junior Seau, was charged with 38 counts of grand theft for allegedly taking more than $9 million of "bogus" investments from NFL players and others.

To steer players away from such traps, the NBA's Rookie Transition Program, as an example, gives incoming stars a crash course in NBA life, including how to pick an agent, negotiate fees and avoid expensive pitfalls.

"We provide information on such matters as league regulations and the dangers of relinquishing power of attorney, while stressing how important it is that they keep their parents involved in the process and always give themselves different options," adds Bob' Dandridge, director of player programs for the NBA Players Association.

Although the arrangement has been working for Barkley and Webber, the Players Association discourages players from having the same individual handle all facets of their money. "That way, the player can create a checks-and-balances system," Dandridge says.

Adds Drexler: "I have different professional people handling my business affairs, but I make the final decisions," he says. "I'm a privacy nut, I really am, and I believe in doing your thing and not letting everyone know about it. You have to, especially when your money is involved."

However, all of Barkley's day-to-day money operations are funneled through his business manager, Guthrie. He pays Barkley's bills, advises him on endorsements, contracts and is the point man everyone goes through to get to Sir Charles. In return, Guthrie says, "Charles pays me a yearly salary," but he wouldn't give specifics. Erwin and Layne, on the other hand, are paid by the hour.

"For a financial planner," Dandridge says, "fees range anywhere from 1% to 2% of a player's salary. But we don't encourage players to pay [agents and financial planners] on a percentage basis; just like in the real world, we encourage them to pay on an hourly basis."

Such a scenario, however, is more the exception than the rule. Big-time Jerry Maguire types like David Falk--whose broad-based clientele includes the likes of Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and (Webber's teammate) Juwan Howard--receive as much as 4% of their clients' salaries. And generally, the agent and athlete come tO an agreed-upon percentage (usually 4%) for marketing revenues.

Still, Dandridge says, it's important that the players understand that they are the boss. "With the sums of money these guys make, they're in a position to dictate fees."

THE POST-GAME STRATEGY

In 1996, Barkley ranked 37th on Forbes magazine's Super 40 highest-paid athletes list with approximately $8 million in earnings ($4.5 million from the Rockets and $3.5 million in endorsements from Nike, McDonald's and Gillette). The figure is a mere pittance to, say, the list's No. 1 ranked athlete, Mike Tyson, who made $75 million for three fights. Or even then-newcomer to the list, Tiger Woods, who ranked No. 26 with only $800,000 in earnings but a whopping $8 million in endorsements. But as Guthrie adds, it's not the amount of money earned that matters, but how much athletes set aside for a rainy day.

"I would definitely recommend the financial strategy that Charles uses to professional athletes-no question," Guthrie says. "But it can also work for anybody who is serious about saving money. It's all about putting together a safe base."

The older and wiser Barkley admits he's not the spendthrift he once was. "The main thing," says the once-bitten Barkley, who will make Arizona his retirement stable once he hangs up his sneakers, "is to put yourself on an allowance and invest the rest." And Layne agrees, sounding more like a proud father than a financial advisor, especially when he talks about 22-year-old client Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks.

"When Ray was 21 years of age," Layne says, "He asked himself, `Am I equipped for life after ball?' And he did everything he needed to make sure his estate was sound. Today, Ray's children and grandchildren will be secure for life, which is a strong statement. How many Americans can say that?"

RELATED ARTICLE: Clyde's Principal Points

Drexler has had a mutual understanding with money from Day One. "The preservation of capital was always important to me," says Drexler. "That was always my first rule of thumb." Always the conservative, he was never one to take too many risks. "The smartest thing I ever did was get good advice from different brokerage houses and, at the same time, learn about whatever it was that I was doing." Much like his game, his financial portfolio is diversified with a good mix of stock, bonds and mutual funds. "I have professional people doing everything for me but I make the decisions. You may have a brokerage institute where you only buy bonds or equities or solely mutual funds," he says. "This way, you can keep everything diversified."

DREXLER'S PORTFOLIO PICKS
                                     YIELD
                                                   YTD
                           3-year   5-year   1/1/97-10/31/97
Fidelity Dividend Growth   31.8%     N/A          21.3%
  Fund

                           Exchange: Symbol   Recent Price(*)
Intel                        NASDAQ: INTC         $78.75

                           Min. Initial
                            Investment    Load     Telephone
Fidelity Dividend Growth      $2,500      None   800-544-8888
  Fund

                           52-Week
                             High     Low     Yield
Intel                      $102.00   $56.75   .10%

(*) As of 11/18/97

RELATED ARTICLE: Sir Charles' Rebounds

After Barkley's bills are paid and his expenses allowed for, 90% of what's left is placed in stocks, mutual funds and bonds (25% goes into stocks and mutual funds and 75% into bonds and other low-risk, solid-gain investments). What's left is "risk money," as Guthrie calls it. "That 10% is money you may end up losing, but if you lose it, it won't hurt you; But if you hit it, it would be big."

Early in his career, Barkley was known to spend money with the best of 'em. Not anymore--at least not as much. "I try to live off an allowance and never go over it," says Barkley who will make $2 million from the Rockets this season.

BARKLEY'S MUTUAL FUND PICKS

                                  YIELD
                                               YTD
Templeton Developing   3-year   5-year   1/1/97-10/31/97
  Markets Trust        4.0%     13.3%        -2.2%
John Hancock           35.3     29.4         37.6
  Regional Bank(**)

                       Min. Initial
Templeton Developing    Investment    Load     Telephone
  Markets Trust            $100       5.75%   800-342-5236
John Hancock               37.6       5.0     800-225-5291
  Regional Bank(**)

(*) front end; (**) closed to new investors

RELATED ARTICLE: Lamar's Strong Holdings

Professional football players, by comparison, don't make as much money or have as much longevity as NBA players. As Lamar Lathon's financial planner, Earl Layne has developed a growth-oriented portfolio for his client, 65% of which consists of equities. Two of his common stock holdings are Hewlett Packard Co.1650-857-1501) and Gannett Inc. 1703-284-6000). For tax reasons, 25% of his portfolio is invested in municipal bonds; the remaining 10% is allotted for petty cash and personal needs.

"Especially now that Lamar is at the height of his career," Layne says, "we're trying to grow his portfolio as much as possible before we have to take income from it when he retires." Lathon just completed the third year of a four-year contract, with total compensation for 1997-98 expected to be $3.5 million.

LATHON'S STOCK PICKS

                  Exchange Symbol   Recent Price(*)
Hewlett Packard     NYSE: HWP          $61.63
Gannett Inc.        NYSE: GCI           54.75

                          52-Week
                  High     Low     Yield
Hewlett Packard   $72.94   $48.13   0.9%
Gannett Inc.       56.63    35.13   1.3

(*) As of 11/18/97

RELATED ARTICLE: Chris' Bank Shots

As L. Fallasha Erwin's lone pro athlete client, Webber is being taught the nuances of business. "I think Mr. Erwin is a better businessman than an agent," says Webber bluntly. "They're a lot of good agents out here, but you can't be a good agent unless you're a good businessman; he's like two in one." Among Webber's affairs are Mayce Enterprises, a Mitchellville, Maryland-based corporation that handles his marketing and business opportunities; and C. Webb, his endorsement company, which employs family members, including Webber's parent, aunt, brothers and sisters. In addition, Webber, who has a passion for music, also owns Humility, an R&B and hip-hop label.

Erwin has arranged a diversified portfolio, with an emphasis on mutual funds and annuities, that he says his client will be able to live off after he retires. "We don't even want him to see this money that he's putting aside now; it's like, it's gone," Erwin says. In addition Webber owns a number of municipal bonds and several no-load funds including PBHG Growth (800-433-0051) and Vanguard Index 500 (800-662-7447). "We're still trying to work with him from a standpoint that says, ideally, we want you to live off the money from your endorsement corporation. And he has the ability to do that."

Says Webber: "Most importantly, I've learned how to save and handle money and how to keep my spending to a minimum. [Erwin] has become more of a mentor than a business partner."

WEBBER'S MUTUAL FUND PICKS

                                   YIELD
                     3-year   5-year   1/1/97-10/31/97
PBHG Growth Fund     22.5%    30.7%         2.97%
Vanguard Index 500   29.8     20.6         32.0

                     Min. Initial
                      Investment    Load    Telephone
PBHG Growth Fund     $2,500(*)      none   800-433-0051
Vanguard Index 500    3,000         none   800-662-7447

(*) or $500 plus $25 per month