Caffey Files Bankruptcy

Jason Caffey has joined the ranks of former pro athletes who were flying high in April and shot down in May.

April in this case means the $35 million contract he signed with the Golden State Warriors during his career in the National Basketball Association, and May would be now, when the 34-year-old former forward has filed for bankruptcy seeking protection from his creditors.

According to the Mobile (Ala.) Press-Register, the former Milwaukee Bucks forward filed for bankruptcy in U.S. Court in Mobile claiming $1.9 million in debts and about $1.15 million in assets. Caffey played in 144 games for the Bucks over three seasons, from 2000-'03.

"The only reason I filed bankruptcy was to get these arrest warrants off me," Caffey told the Press-Register. Caffey was jailed this year in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and is facing an arrest warrant in Georgia, both stemming from back child-support issues.

He has fathered eight children with seven women.

"The guy has made more money than he has sense," said attorney Clarence Roby, who represents a Louisiana woman who is seeking child support for two children. "He has not paid anything since May 2005. . . .

He is the epitome of a deadbeat dad." More than half of Caffey's reported monthly income of $7,000 goes to alimony and child support, according to the story. "Who wouldn't have trouble with that after retiring five years ago?" Caffey said.

A lawyer who is defending Caffey in a Georgia child-support case, Jim Altman, said Caffey's obligation of $4,250 a month was not in line with what he is making now. "As an NBA basketball star, he was making millions of dollars," Altman told the Press-Register. "It kind of goes to show how the system fails people like Jason."

Caffey signed a $35 million contract with the Warriors after the 1997-'98 season, which he spent with the Chicago Bulls. But Caffey said his career ended with three years left on the deal, worth $12 million, and that after taxes the deal was really worth $17 million.

He said his former wife, who divorced him in 2006, got half his money. In February 2000, when the Bucks were looking to trade for him, Caffey criticized Milwaukee and said he didn't want to play for the franchise. When he joined the Bucks he said he didn't mean what he said about the city, that it was only a negotiation ploy.