- Professional athletes are among the wealthiest people in popular culture.
- The biggest names in sports have hundreds of millions in disposable income.
- Still, many prefer to keep frugal habits that are rare among most millionaires.
LeBron James
In fairness, LeBron James is a prominent philanthropist that donates millions to charities every year. But when it comes to his personal endeavors, he's known to be a cheapskate.
James' former Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade once called James "the cheapest man in the NBA" during an interview with Rachel Nichols of ESPN in 2017, and James himself agreed with the statement.
"I'm not turning on data roaming. I'm not buying no apps. I still got Pandora with commercials," James said.
James' current Los Angeles Lakers teammates Alex Caruso and Jared Dudley also poked the superstar on his cheapness during an Instagram Live session, according to Blake Schuster of Bleacher Report.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods has made an estimated $1.5 billion in career earnings yet refuses to pay for dinners.
Former European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke once said that Woods would never take the tab at dinner, despite being the wealthiest one at the table by a wide margin, during an appearance on the Dubai Eye Sports Tonight Podcast.
Woods also reportedly doesn't even contribute to tipping at restaurants because he doesn't carry cash, according to the 2019 book "Roaring Back: The Fall and Rise of Tiger Woods" by Curt Sampson.
Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony has played 18 years in the NBA but still retains coupon-cutting habits he learned as a child.
"I go to the supermarket, make sure I get the newspaper and tear the coupons out; save a dollar or two," Anthony told CBS Denver in 2011. "I've got the paper open with coupons, ripping them, I'm human too,"
Rob Gronkowski
Rob Gronkowski grew up with three older brothers, and all of his clothes were hand-me-downs. He carried that frugal approach to clothing into his NFL career, getting every wear he can out of clothing.
"If I like the clothing, if I like the shoes, I'll wear those shoes, and I'll wear that clothing down to the rags," Gronkowski told Maverick Carter during an appearance on UNINTERUPTED's Kneeding Dough podcast.
Gronkowski apparently will wear one pair of jeans for seven straight days.
"I'm not a big shopping guy. I'm just not interested in clothes," Gronkowski told CNBC Make It. "To me, it seems like a complete waste of money. I just want to have enough clothes to cover legally what parts I have to cover."
Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard is one of the biggest stars in the NBA, but you couldn't tell if you saw him driving on the street.
Leonard drove a 20-year-old car, a "rehabbed" 1997 Chevy Tahoe, that he first started driving as a teenager, eight years into his NBA career until 2019, according to Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Like Anthony, Leonard also clips coupons and had a panic attack when he lost a coupon book from his sponsor Wingstop according to Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated.
Hideki Matsuyama
After winning the 2021 Masters, Hideki Matsuyama declined the opportunity to book a private jet and didn't even buy a garment bag for his green jacket. Matsuyama also drives a minivan and keeps his personal life so private that he kept his wife and child a secret until 2017.
During a rain delay on day 2 of the Masters, while most competitors were getting massages or having a drink in the clubhouse, Matsuyama simply stayed in his car and played games on his phone, according to Golf Digest.
Jimmy Butler
During the Miami Heat's run to the Finals in the NBA Finals last year, Jimmy Butler had a coffee machine in his hotel room, but none of his teammates got any free handouts. Butler told Rachel Nichols of ESPN that he charged other players $20 for a cup of coffee.
Before the bubble, Butler said in 2017 that he drives a 2017 Toyota Sienna minivan during an introductory press conference with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2018, according to John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins became the NFL's highest-paid player when he signed a historic $84 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings in 2018, but it didn't change his vacation plans.
Even after signing his contract, Cousins continued to spend his summers living in the basement of his parents' home in Michigan, where he pays nothing in rent, according to Clay Skipper of GQ.
Cousins also drove a 15-year-old conversion van he bought from his grandmother for $5,000 until 2018 but still owns it as a second car.
"It's better to buy appreciating assets than depreciating," Cousins told Kevin Clark of The Wall Street Journal in 2016. "No yachts, no sports cars."
Ryan Kerrigan
During Ryan Kerrigan's 10-year career with the Washington Football Team, he was at one point the third highest-paid linebacker in the league, but he essentially lived like a college student.
Kerrigan lived in a two-bedroom apartment with a childhood friend and drove a modest Chevy Tahoe, according to The Washington Post.
Kerrigan mostly avoids eating out and does a lot of his own cooking. However, the one exception he'll make is an occasional trip to Chipotle.
Alfred Morris
Alfred Morris has made over $8 million in his NFL career, but only two of those dollars have gone towards his car.
Morris has driven a 1991 Mazda 626 that he purchased for $2 from his pastor.
It just keeps me grounded, where I came from and all the hard work for me to get to this point," Morris said in 2012 on the Washington Football Team website.
Morris then got his car refurbished, a treatment that cost him even less than the car itself as Mazda offered to do it for free. The company gutted the sedan, stripping it down to its skeleton and installing a new engine, new interiors and a GPS.
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