Ex-NBA Player David Vaughn's Fall After NBA Riches

David Vaughn knows the adulation of NBA crowds. He also knows the humbling task of maneuvering his 6-foot-9 frame into his Chevy Impala to sleep.

David Vaughn, 36, a former NBA power forward, stands outside his apartment with his wife, Brandie,...

David Vaughn, 36, a former NBA power forward, stands outside his apartment with his wife, Brandie, in Orlando, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. After playing four years in the NBA after being drafted in the first round by the Orlando Magic basketball team out of the University of Memphis, Vaughn spent a time being homeless and now is simply looking for a job. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

(AP)

Less than a decade after the end of a four-season NBA career, the former power forward spent six months on the streets of Orlando, Fla., having run through the $2.2 million he earned in the league. These days, the 36-year-old Vaughn is looking for a job in Orlando, where he spent two seasons playing for the Magic.

His story, he says, is one of a young man with sudden riches, manic spending habits and little advice from those who should have given him direction. It's also one of a man whose friends are coming to his aid this weekend.

Drafted by the Magic in 1995 as the 25th pick out of Memphis, he bought a Yukon, a Corvette, a Mercedes Benz, a Range Rover, a Lexus and another Yukon.

The Corvette, especially, was ridiculed by his teammates.

"They said, "Hey rook(ie), get rid of it, it's too small," Vaughn recalled in an interview, calling toll-free from Orlando.

"I should've just bought a Buick."

He purchased a $250,000 house in Orlando, which he had two loans on; paid a note on his grandfather's house near Nashville; bought a $212,000 home in Nashville; and invested in a construction deal that went sour.

"The money just exhausted itself," Vaughn said.

His financial advisers, he said, "never stepped in and never made anything last a lifetime; I was left to make my own decisions."

These days, there's a mandatory NBA rookie transition program designed to head off such problems.

His NBA pension, he said, won't kick in until he's 48. He also played for the New Jersey Nets, Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls, averaging just under 10 minutes and 2.9 points a game.

"I wouldn't trade my NBA experience for anything in the world," Vaughn said.

After his release from the NBA in 1999, he played briefly in Europe, then ended up back in Orlando with little money and working a series of blue-collar jobs: a FedEx package handler, and warehouse work at a supermarket and then a furniture store.