Yahoo Finance Big beds and wild pets: The 7 silliest things pro athletes have spent their millions on
Athletes might get paid the big bucks to entertain us with their skills, but sometimes how they choose to spend that money is even more amusing.
From dropping tens of thousands of dollars on everything from diamond-encrusted cleats to pet camels, these professional athletes take living lavishly to the next level.
The price tags are high, but who among us can say for sure that if we had the cash, we wouldn’t spend it on a personal Batcave?
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Dangerous cats
Former American boxer Mike Tyson competed from 1985 to 2005 and only lost six of his 58 fights.
But he is best remembered for the 1997 match where he bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear.
Tyson owned at least one Bengal tiger named Kenya, who reportedly ripped off a woman’s arm. According to The Richest, Tyson allegedly spent $70,000 to purchase the tiger, plus $125,000 to employ an animal trainer for one year. One Green Planet calculates that the cost of housing — meaning a fence and a cage — for a pet tiger is over $15,000.
As for the tiger’s victim, Tyson told TalkSport that he had to pay out $250,000 in legal compensation. Totaled up, the cost of Tyson’s dangerous pets is $500,000 — minimum.
Pet camel
Carmelo Anthony, forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, is known as one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history. At 38, he has four Olympic medals and has been named an NBA All-Star 10 times.
In 2011, Anthony tweeted “Everybody got dogs and cats as pets, I got a camel!” and an image of Anthony standing beside his new camel began circulating. Considering Anthony was living in a Manhattan condo, most of the public reaction was focused on where this camel was going to live.
Camels are apparently more loyal than dogs and very affectionate towards their owners — but they cost between $5,000 and $25,000 in the USA, according to The Daily Wildlife.
Mini Marquis
Former NBA player Marquis Daniels spent his pro career playing for several big-name teams, including the Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.
Daniels once commissioned a custom necklace from a jeweler in Beverly Hills — but it’s not your standard bedazzled fare. Daniels asked the jeweler to make the pendant a sculpture of his own head.
The bejeweled likeness was crafted with 3D-laser imaging, and is made up of nearly three pounds of 14-karat gold, as well as black, white and cognac-coloured diamonds.
Though the price of the necklace is undisclosed, jewelry experts estimate the cost to be in the six figures.
Batcave
At 39, retired NBA player Danny Granger holds a couple of auspicious titles — he was a 2009 All-Star and earned the Most Improved Player Award that same season.
He played 10 seasons in the NBA before a knee injury took him out of the game. Fortunately, Granger has several nerdy hobbies to fall back on.
According to Sportscasting, the man has loved superheroes, comic books and sci-fi ever since he was a child, and he’s particularly fond of Batman.
And so when Granger bought himself an Albuquerque, N.M. mansion, he included a secret cave entrance in the design — modeled after the early Batman movies starring Michael Keaton. The plan included a spinning platform for his cars and a moat.
While Granger is reportedly worth $45 million, he’s no Bruce Wayne, and he likely spent a good chunk of his earnings on this massive man-cave. Construction news publication Big Rentz estimates that a structure comparable to Batman’s cave in the Keaton films would cost $7.2 million.
A really big bed
Al Jefferson is argued to have been one of the best low-post scorers in the NBA. At 37, and nearly 7 feet tall, it stands to reason that he’d have to pay the big bucks just for something to stretch out on comfortably.
That’s why Jefferson purchased a custom bed for $23,000, as teammate Mo Williams told SB Nation.
The bed spans 12 feet by 10 feet — which is dramatically larger than the largest bed on the retail market, the 9-by-9-foot Alaskan King. While only a few feet larger, Jefferson’s custom bed cost significantly more than the Alaskan King mattress, which retails for $2,000 to $7,000.
Williams, shocked by the size and price, leaked a photo of his teammate’s custom bed. Even at 6’1, Williams looks tiny lying on the gargantuan mattress.
Diamond cleats
In 2020, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos became the first active team-sport athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings, according to Forbes. The Manchester United player and Portugal team captain is known for living lavishly — just take a look at his car collection, valued at $24 million. But the most outrageous thing he’s spent money on has got to be his customized CR7 Nike cleats.
Not only are these shoes adorned by a jewel-encrusted Nike swoop, but also feature a mosaic of diamonds that depicts an image of Ronaldo’s face. The Daily Mail says the cleats are one of three boots designed by diamond artist Tokunbo Daniel, and are on display in Museu CR7, a museum dedicated to the athlete’s famous memorabilia.
The cost of the cleats is undisclosed, but based on the $200,000 price tag of footballer Odell Beckam Jr.’s diamond-encrusted cleats — where the diamonds only cover the Nike swoop — you can draw your own conclusions.
Battalion of scooters
Arian Foster, one of the best running backs in the NFL, played with the Houston Texans for the majority of his career — and he really loved his teammates.
At the age of 26, he purchased a Segway scooter for each of his offensive linemen, which Fox Sports estimated in 2012 would cost $50,000.
ESPN writes that the linemen “screamed with delight when they discovered their new toys, and learned how to ride them with help from Foster, who has had one for a while."
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
