Joe Smith career earnings: How much did the former NBA player earn in his career?

If not for questionable moves, Joe Smith would have had total career earnings enough to be called "fitting" for a former number one pick. The first overall pick of the 1995 NBA Draft, he had a solid rookie campaign with the Golden State Warriors, and the following season, he averaged what would be his career high in points.

However, at the end of a 16-year journeyman career, Smith amassed a grand total of about $61 million in career earnings. As aforementioned, this sum could have been much bigger if Smith at least negotiated for a larger payday.

Joe Smith's questionable salary moves

Joe Smith had at least two intriguing salary negotiations which could have not happened if he just accepted his first contract extension offer.

Nearing the end of his rookie contract, the Warriors offered the player about $80 million on a multi-year deal just to stay with them. However, being a native of Norfolk, wanted to return to the East Coast, and the Golden State Warriors heeded to his request, trading him to the Philadelphia 76ers during trade deadline.

Smith, though, opted to go back to the Western Conference and join the Minnesota Timberwolves for a ridiculously small amount of money.

As it turned out, the deal was part of a salary cap evading scheme which Eric Fleisher exposed when Andrew Miller, Smith and Kevin Garnett's agent, left his sports marketing firm.

The scheme would have Smith signing to three one-year deals worth a little less than $3 million each with a promise that he will be signed to an $86 million long-term deal down the road.

After the scheme was exposed, the Timberwolves let Smith go, but he would eventually return to them. He called it a career in 2011.

Joe Smith's previous struggle with debts

Joe Smith's questionable salary management spilled onto how he handles his expenditures. In the Tv show "Back in the Game", he revealed to MLB legend Alex Rodriguez back in 2018 that he and current wife Kisha Chavis struggled with debts.

Rodriguez would help Smith recover with financial tips like expanding his private coaching business and cutting down on their expenses, and the former top pick is now bouncing back in monetary terms.

Smith even went viral after he found out that Chavis reportedly opened an OnlyFans account just to earn money.