NBA Players Who Grew Up Poor

While NBA players are some of the most handsomely paid athletes in the world, with an average yearly contract in excess of $7.5 million, many NBA players grew up with little.

Coming from difficult situations and circumstances, these players don’t take their wealth for granted. And with their newfound wealth, these players are some of the most charitable and giving athletes in the world.

Below, we are going to look at and discuss the NBA players who grew up poor. These players grew up with very little and had to go to extreme lengths to make ends meet. And in making it to the NBA, these players have been able to provide for both themselves and their family’s.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

One of the most liked and most humble players in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo has set a higher standard for his Milwaukee Bucks. Playing for the Bucks in the Central Division of the NBA’s Eastern Conference, he led the Bucks to the 2020-21 NBA Finals championship.

Nicknamed the “Greek Freak”, Giannis was born and raised in Athens to Nigerian immigrants. As immigrants, his parents could not easily find work in Greece, leading Giannis and his siblings to sell watches, handbags, and sunglasses on the streets of Athens.

And although Giannis and his siblings were born in Greece, they did not automatically receive Greek citizenship, leaving him essentially stateless, neither having papers for Greece or Nigeria.

However, that all changed when he was drafted to the NBA as the 15th overall selection in the 2013 NBA draft. With a 2022 salary of $39.34 million, Giannis has done extremely well for himself and has shown that hard work really does pay off.

Allen Iverson

Allen Iverson was one of the most prolific ball-handlers and shooters in the NBA. Nicknamed “the Answer” and “AI”, he played 14 seasons in the NBA at both the shooting guard and point guard positions.

In his time in the league, he won NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1997 and was an 11-time NBA All-Star, won the All-Star game MVP award in 2001 and 2005, and was the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2001.

He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. In October 2021, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

However, Iverson had a difficult upbringing. Born to a single 15-year-old mother, Ann Iverson, he would never meet his biological father. And at the age of 13, he would witness a father figure of his be arrested in connection to selling drugs.

And in 1993, Iverson was arrested due to an incident at a bowling alley. Although he was 17 at the time, he was convicted as an adult of the felony charge of maiming by mob. The charges alleged that he struck a woman in the head with a chair.

Spending four months at a correctional facility, video later emerged showing Iverson to have left the bowling alley shortly after the fight broke out.

Larry Bird

Larry Bird may be one of the greatest basketball players of all-time and arguably one of the best Boston Celtics’ players but he had an extremely difficult upbringing and grew up poor.

Born in West Baden Springs, Indiana and raised in nearby French Lick, his mother worked two jobs to support him and his five siblings. Larry Bird’s parents divorced while he was in high school and he later reflected on his upbringing, stating that being poor, “it motivates me to this day.”

Zach Randolph

Nicknamed “Z-Bo”, Zach Randolph is a 2-time NBA All-Star and played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans. Drafted in the 2001 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, he was born in Marion, Indiana.

Growing up in a small, blue-collar neighborhood, his mother struggled to provide for Zach and his siblings. Often, he would attend school wearing the same outfit, making him a ripe target for ridicule and abuse from other kids.

Scottie Pippen

We’ll be the first to say it, without Scottie Pippen, there would be no Michael Jordan. Jordan’s right-hand man and one of the greatest small forwards of all time, Pippen alongside Jordan, helped make the NBA a global sport and was part of the legendary Chicago Bulls team dynasty, under head coach Phil Jackson.

However, Pippen had a difficult childhood. Born in Hamburg, Arkansas, his father suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right side, prevented him from walking and affected his speech.

Unable to fully provide for their children, Scottie utilized his height and basketball prowess to play at the University of Central Arkansas, where he would go on to be drafted to the NBA in the 1987 NBA draft.

Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace may have been known for his strength and physicality on the court and his differing hairstyles, from dreads to an afro, but he should, perhaps, be best known for his rags-to-riches story.

Growing up in White Hall, in the state’s ninth-poorest county, with a current population of fewer than 750 people and a poverty rate of 37%, Wallace and his family would struggle to make ends meet.

He would later reflect on his childhood, stating:

“I saw a lot of things. I witnessed the plantation, I went to it, I worked on it. I experienced a lot of things that made growing up in the South priceless…One or two wrong turns where I’m from could put you on a path that’s hard to reverse. … We had to stick together to get through down South.”

Leon Powe

One of the sadder stories here, Leon Powe grew up in Oakland, California. His father left his family when he was just two years old and when he was seven years old, the family’s house burned down and they were homeless for years.

They moved more than twenty times within six years, many times living in motels and the family car. Due to this instability, Leon and his siblings were taken away from their mother by the state of California and put into foster care.

However, for all her struggles, Powe’s mother would die a mere four days before he played in the state championship game.

Caron Butler

Another extremely sad life story, Caron Butler grew up extremely poor and had to sell drugs at just the age of 12 to make ends meet. Having been arrested 15-times before he turned 15, Caron would find his love of basketball while at a youth detention center.

Caron was a naturally gifted basketball player and received a scholarship to attend the University of Connecticut to play for the Connecticut Huskies men’s basketball team for coach Jim Calhoun.

Following his collegiate basketball career, Caron would be drafted at the 10th overall pick by the Miami Heat in the 2002 NBA draft. A two-time NBA All-Star, he would retire after playing 14-years in the league.

Jimmy Butler

Last, but certainly not least on our list of NBA players who grew up poor is Jimmy Butler. As one NBA general manager would say about Butler:

“His story is one of the most remarkable I’ve seen in all my years of basketball. There were so many times in his life where he was set up to fail. Every time, he overcame just enormous odds. When you talk to him—and he’s hesitant to talk about his life—you just have this feeling that this kid has greatness in him.”

Born in Houston, Texas, Butler’s father left the family when he was an infant. When he was 13 years old, his mother kicked him out of the house. Butler recalls that his mother simply told him, “I don’t like the look of you. You gotta go.”

He then bounced between the homes of various friends, staying for a few weeks at a time before moving to another house.

However, as an ultimate act of kindness, Butler maintains a close relationship with his parents, saying, “I don’t hold grudges. I still talk to my family. My mom. My father. We love each other. That’s never going to change.”