Most professional athletes have one source of income. That is the retirement problem.

Jaylen Brown earns $60.7 million this season from the largest contract in NBA history. After federal taxes, state taxes, agent commissions, and NBA-related deductions, he takes home roughly $24.5 million. He loses more than $36 million before it reaches his account.

Draymond Green said on a podcast this year: "This job is not set up for us to be wealthy after we are done playing. The way we are taxed, the way we are fined. This job ain't never been set up for us to be wealthy after we are done playing."

Both players are pointing at a real problem. But the taxes and the fees are not the root of it. They are symptoms.

The root: most professional athletes have one primary income source. The contract. When it ends, everything built around it ends with it.

What the data shows

78% of NFL players face financial stress or bankruptcy within two years of retiring. 60% of NBA players lose the majority of their wealth within five years of leaving the league. The average NFL career lasts 3.3 years. The average NBA career lasts 4.5 years. A player who enters either league at 22 may be fully retired by 26, with potentially six more decades ahead and no more paychecks coming.

The CEO of The Players Company explained the mechanism on a recent podcast: take an NBA player earning $8 million a year for 10 years. Their lifestyle calibrates to $8 million annual income. Taxes and fees reduce the net figure substantially during the playing years. When the career ends, often abruptly, the income stops entirely. The capital depletes faster than most players anticipate because it was never designed to last beyond the playing years.

Brown named the agency layer directly: "The agency model is not working. They get you and get in your pocket, they just go get the next one and get in his pocket." Players enter the system at 18 or 19 with little financial education, surrounded by advisors whose incentive is the deal in front of them, not a financial structure that lasts beyond the playing years.

One income source has one expiration date

A contract is a single income source with a fixed end date. It also generates a lifestyle, financial relationships, and a tax profile, all calibrated to its existence. When the contract expires or is terminated, those calibrations remain. The income does not.

The players who avoid the retirement cliff share one characteristic that has nothing to do with financial literacy or spending discipline. They built a second income source during their playing years. One that does not expire when the contract does.

LeBron James earned $581 million in NBA salary across his career. That figure represents roughly 40% of his estimated net worth. The other 60% came from equity stakes, a media company, a lifetime Nike deal with revenue participation, and business investments made during his playing career. When his NBA salary stops, those assets keep generating. They do not have a contract end date.

Serena Williams built a venture capital portfolio during her tennis career. Naomi Osaka co-founded a media company. Caitlin Clark earns $16 million annually from endorsements against a $527,000 WNBA salary. In each case, the non-contract income does not retire when the athlete does.

What the model actually requires

The common thread across every athlete who avoids the retirement cliff is the same: direct commercial relationships that exist outside the league salary structure. Revenue tied to audience relationships rather than roster spots. Income that does not carry an expiration date linked to a playing contract.

An athlete does not need a lifetime Nike deal to build that. They need a mechanism to monetize the audience they have already built. A direct relationship with fans that generates income independently of what any league or team decides to pay them.

That is the gap Thravos is built to close. Not by replacing the contract, but by giving athletes a second income source that exists outside it. Subscription channels, coaching, fan competitions, direct community. Revenue that does not expire when the roster cut comes, when the contract runs out, or when the career ends earlier than planned.

The athletes going broke after retirement are not making a financial mistake. They are operating exactly as the system was designed. One income source. One expiration date. Nothing built alongside it that lasts.

The athletes who avoid that outcome built something else while they still could. That is the model. And it is available earlier in a career than most athletes realize.

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Disclaimer: This post may include forward-looking statements based on current expectations, plans, or projections. Actual results may differ due to various factors beyond our control. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and use independent judgment when interpreting the information provided. All content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice.