Financial Points from D-Wade's 31-Pt Eclipse of the Suns

* ETA: Special Welcome to Miami Heat Fans! Let's Go Heat!!

My sons and I are big fans of Dwyane Wade, the All-Star guard for the Miami Heat. I learned a lot about personal finance from tracking D-Wade's total eclipse of the Phoenix Suns earlier this week. The Heat won 117 to 113 ("Scintillating finish") and the game provides a good playbook for financial management.

Here's what I learned:

• 
  Recovery requires hard work and rehap: D-Wade aka "the Flash" had knee and shoulder surgeries over the summer, following devastating injuries during the 2006-2007 season. With hard work and rehab, Wade plays better with each game and has had a string of 30-point-plus games. The Lesson: Even if I have serious setbacks (financial, professional or personal), I can rally back with proper exercise, good judgement and discipline. Credit scores can be improved; accounts can be balanced. Tomorrow, I will write a piece about sports, money & rehabilitation.) In the meantime, here is a helpful article about sports injuries.


• Adversity is an excellent teacher: Quite frankly, the Miami Heat b-ball team was off to a horrible start this season. I cringed when I listened to the games on the radio. My sons and I averted our eyes when we glanced at the sports sections. But the Heat have finally put together a two-game winning streak. "We found out a lot about ourselves in these last two games," said Udonis Haslem, who plays forward. The Lesson: I've made some stupid mistakes (personal, professional and financial) in my life. I've had some horrible starts. But being stupid taught me how to be smart. Sometimes from a pit, I have a great view of the world and the motivation to climb forward.



• Consistency is important: Now that they have won a few games, the Heat need to keep the drive going. Here's what Shaq (#32 Shaquille O'Neal ) said in the Miami Herald: "This was a good game for us...Now, we just need some consistency." The Lesson: Consistency and strong performances (financial and otherwise) are a daily struggle. Saving money is a daily drill.



• Assist others: Phoenix guard Steve Nash is not one of my favorite players, but I admire him. I sort of understand why he has been named MVP in past years. He moves the ball well; he manages the floor and he gets his team involved in the action. For instance, over the last 7th games (as of December 11), Nash has earned at least 14 assists per game. He feeds the ball to his teammates. (He had one great behind-the-back pass, that was one of the Top 10 Plays of the night on NBA.com.) The Lesson: It's not enough to just score points. You have to play defense and you have to help other people score. Likewise, I've really made an effort to get my children involved in frugal living. From Nash, I see the importance of assisting others and giving back.

• Seize the moment: "You have to take opportunities," said Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley, according to a quote in the Miami Herald. "When you have an open shot, take it and make it."
  

By the way JLP at AllFinancialMatters recently ran a great post (The Top Ten Endorsement Income Athletes for 2007) that mentioned LeBron James and money. LeBron -- a good friend of D-Wade -- is also very smart about money and about giving back to others.

Frugal sports tip: NBA.com has terrific game highlights, post-game shows and other video clips that are excellent. We don't have standard or cable TV in my house, but through the Internet we watch many entertainment and sports programs.

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Cover Your Assets & Other Money Tips from D-Wade & Miami Heat's Latest Victory

Yes, it's possible to recover from a large deficit. That's one of several courtside lessons that I gained from the Miami Heat's recent victory (107 to 103) over the Seattle SuperSonics.

Here's my list of the day.

1.Create a cushion: Dwyane Wade literally hits the b-ball court with as much padding (on knees, wrists, ribs) as some football players.

Financial Lesson: Create a fiscal cushion to soften the impact of sudden blows or even minor spills. I've been aggressively saving additional income in a savings account in order to boost my emergency funds.

Financial padding is also a good CYA move: Cover-Your-Assets!


2. Defeat Deficits: The Heat rallied from behind to win the game.

Financial Lesson: An aggressive plan on both ends of the court such as earning more (offensive drive) and super defense (saving and slashing costs) can erode deficits.

With that concept in mind, I'm on the defensive mode in my house: shutting off lights, DIY projects and other frugal moves. But I'm also hunting for new sources of income.

3. Pacing is important:

'Wade scored eight of Miami's first 11 points of the second half and then saved his best for the closing minutes.
"He was pacing himself in the first half ... and he was getting everybody shots," Miami coach Ron Rothstein said. "He was just letting the game come to him."' source: --Associate Press

Financial Lesson: Timing is everything and patience pays dividends when you carefully execute your game plan.

4. Distribute the ball: In the first half of the game, D-Wade constantly passed the ball to his teammates. The ball movement created a diversified portfolio of shots.

"Wade patiently distributed to shooters Kapono and Jason Williams in the first half, handing out nine assists. Combined with Payton's 10 points off the bench, the Heat were able to stay close enough for Wade to take control in the final 24 minutes." source: AP

Lesson: Don't be a ball hog. Play generously, but score when you're hot.



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Financial Lessons from Spike Lee, James Brown & Basketball Tickets

From a bio on James Brown (rest in peace) to money lectures to his kid about expensive courtside seats, movie mogul Spike Lee has been making some smart moves lately.

James Brown -- who passed away at age 73 on Dec. 25 -- was the G-dfather of Soul and called himself the "hardest working man in show biz."

But now, according to Variety magazine, Spike Lee will be directing a movie about the soul legend. Smart move for several reasons:


1) Movies about music legends have been major money makers and the darlings of critics, including blockbusters about Johnny Cash and Ray Charles.

2) The recent box office success of Dream Girls will probably launch other me-too movies about African-American pioneers in the pop music business. Here's a quick Dream Girl factoid, which featured Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy (playing a James Brown-inspired character) and Jennifer Hudson.

"Big-screen musical movie "Dreamgirls" took the Christmas Day box office by storm, grossing nearly $9 million its first day in theaters across North America, according to studio figures issued on Tuesday." --source: Reuters

Savvy Courtside Financial Talk

Us magazine reported that Spike Lee recently took his 9-year-old son Jackson to a Knicks basketball game (no-fight broke out) and offered this advice about courtside seats:

“Someday he’ll inherit my courtside seats, but he’d better be making some money,” Lee has said. “Them seats cost!” --source: Us Magazine

Here's a link to the Spike Lee and Kid at courtside photo. It's the second one down on the page.

I had plans to take my kids to the Heat-Lakers game on Dec. 25 at American Airlines Arena. Ha! The $10 SRO tickets, which I have unwisely touted in newspaper articles and online were all gone. My secret is totally out. The only seats left were $302 each,which would have been about almost $1,000 total for me and my two boys.

Instead, we all watched the game for free at the Eden Roc, a luxury beach-side resort on Miami Beach. We don't have regular or cable TV. The outdoor sports bar was fun, and people kept buying my kids Shirley Temples. D-Wade scored 40 points and the Heat won the game.

Of course, there's another way to watch basketball games for free. I could emulate hip-hop Mogul Jay-Z (aka Sean Carter), who is part owner of the New Jersey Nets. He goes to a lot of courtside games with Beyonce. Check out this photo of Jay-Z and B from People magazine, a publication for which I occasionally report.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé whoop it up while watching the New Jersey Nets play the Cleveland Cavaliers in New Jersey on Wednesday. It was a good night for Jay-Z, who's a part owner of the Nets: They bested the Cavaliers, 113-111.--source People magazine

I'm actually an old-school Springsteen-loving Jersey girl, but I can't cheer for the Vince Carter and the Nets! My brain has gone South!










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